An Improved Life
by PadfootProngs7
Summary: After the Final Battle, everyone needs some time to themselves. Read as the trio and Ginny go through the summer after the Battle. Funerals, laughter, love, tears and Australia included.
1. Chapter 1

Ginny Ginny

The war was over. Hundreds were dead, while hundreds more were injured. Lord Voldemort was dead. I was walking through the grounds at Hogwarts looking for the one who had finished it all.

_Oh I had a lot to say was thinking on my time away  
I missed you and things weren't the same_

Harry Potter.

_Cause everything inside it never comes out right  
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die_

I had not had a real conversation with him for months. I had to find him. I couldn't bear to think of Fred right now. I decided he wasn't outside and headed into the castle, to look for him in the Gryffindor Common Room. I started up a staircase and turned down a corridor where I saw Ron and Hermione. They were walking with a space of about two feet between them, and kept looking at one another, talking. Knowing I wouldn't be able to catch up with them, as I was too exhausted, I called out their names.

Hermione

I spun around upon hearing my name being called to see Ginny, slowly walking towards us.

'Do you know where Harry is?' she asked us. I glanced at Ron and said,

'Um, I think so. Just er, stay here and we'll uh, we'll go and find him for you,' and we hurried to the end of the corridor and turned the corner only to have Harry materialize between us.

'Are you sure you want to go see her mate? I mean, you don't know what she's thinking at the moment,' Ron said. I sighed loudly.

'Honestly Ron,' I started, 'she obviously really wants to talk to Harry. I think he should go.' Ron shrugged and we bother looked to Harry who was folding his Invisibility Cloak.

Harry

I could feel Ron and Hermione's eyes burning into me. I took my time folding and putting away my Invisibility Cloak. When I finished, I slowly looked up. Hermione's face held a look of stubbornness, while Ron's was a look of worry. I thought about it. If she was indeed mad at me, I might as well go and let her get her anger out now, otherwise, if I didn't go, it would only be worse later for avoiding her. I made my decision.

'I'm going,' I told them. Hermione's face looked triumphant while Ron spoke,

_I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, I love all you're sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry_

'Okay mate. Just, just watch out. She can be really scary when she's angry.'

'Thanks Ron,' I said sarcastically. He smiled sheepishly and said,

_This time I think I'm to blame it's harder to get through the days  
You get older and blame turns to shame_

'Well, I guess we'll wait up in the Common Room for you.' Hermione nodded and grabbed Ron's hand and led him to Gryffindor Tower. I smiled. At least things weren't awkward between them after that episode in the Room of Requirement.

I sighed, turned and walked around the corner to where Ginny was waiting for me. She saw me and stood up. I kept walking until we were standing about a yard from each other. We looked at each other for a few moments until Ginny started walking towards me. I tensed, waiting for the explosion to come, but instead she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a gentle, passionate kiss.

_Cause everything inside it never comes out right  
And when I see you cry it makes me want to die_

I was startled at first, but quickly melted into the embrace, put my arms around her waist, pulling her as close as I possibly could, and returned the kiss with as much passion, longing and love I could muster. After a few moments, we broke apart and she buried her head into my chest. We stayed like that for a few minutes until Ginny whispered,

'Promise me that you'll never, ever, do that again.' I was taken aback at the question, but answered non-the-less, holding onto her tightly,

_I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, I love all you're sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry_

'I promise Ginny, I promise.'

Ron

Hermione grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards Gryffindor Tower. I jogged to her side and we walked hand-in-hand to the Common Room. Once we were through the Portrait Hole, Hermione turned and gave me a hug that could tie with my mother's. I stood there awkwardly for a moment until I came to my senses and hugged her back. After a few moments we released each other and walked over to one of the sofas in front of the fire. We sat down and she rested her head on my shoulder and said,

'I'm sorry Ron. You probably have no clue what's wrong with me. It's just; I can't believe it's actually over.' I cut in at this point and said,

'I think Harry's going to have a harder time believing it than anyone else.' She giggled at this and replied

'Yeah, I hope he's okay though.'

'He's Harry. He'll be fine sooner or later.' For the next few minutes we sat in silence, lost in our own thoughts, until I realized that Hermione had fallen asleep. Deciding that I might as well get some sleep too, I closed my eyes and was asleep in seconds.

Ginny

Harry and I walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room in a comfortable hand holding silence. When we got to the Common Room, I saw a peculiar sight. Ron and Hermione sitting on the same sofa, sleeping, and Hermione with her head on Ron's shoulder. I looked up at Harry questioningly and saw that he was smiling. He saw me staring and answered my un-asked question.

_Every single day I think about how we came all this way  
The sleepless nights and the tears you cried it's never too late to make it right  
Oh yeah sorry!_

'In the Room of Requirement, Ron said something about saving the house elves and Hermione ran to him and they started snogging.' I stood there, surprised. Harry chuckled at the look on my face and made his way over to the sofa across from Ron and Hermione's. I shook my head a bit and walked over and sat beside Harry and said,

_I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you  
And I know I can't take it back  
I love how you kiss, I love all you're sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round  
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry_

'Sleep seems like a good idea to me.' Harry yawned and agreed. We made ourselves comfortable, Harry diagonal on the sofa, and me with my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I took his hands. Seconds later I felt Harry relax and knew he was asleep. I smiled, and let sleep take over my exhausted body.

Hermione

I was awaken from my deep sleep by Ron's stirring. I opened my eyes to see Harry and Ginny sleeping on the sofa across from us, Ginny with her head on Harry's chest. I knew Ron would not like what he saw if he opened his eyes. Too late.

'Bloody hell,' I heard him whisper.

'Ron shush!' I whispered startling him.

'Oh, Hermione, I didn't know you were awake,' he said. I didn't answer. I watched Ron stand up and walk over to the couch Ginny was on. I didn't say anything to him until I saw him reach out to touch Ginny.

'Ron! What are you doing?' I whispered furiously.

'It's okay. I'm just moving her to ju-'

'Ron, don't you dare touch her!' Ron rounded on me, his ears turning red.

'Why Hermione? Did they want me to catch them like this? Did they plan this?' I stood up and said in a clam voice,

'Maybe they did plan it Ron, but I doubt they would ever want you to catch them like this because they know how you would react, although after the past events, I have a feeling that the only thing they were thinking of was sleep. So don't you dare move either of them.' Ron and I stood staring at each other for a few minutes until Ron walked over to me and put his arms around my waist in a gentle hug. I stood shocked for a minute and then returned it. We sat down on the sofa and resumed our original positions. After a few moments I felt Ron's breathing slow and knew he was asleep. I sat and watched the couple across from me for a couple of minutes. I smiled as I saw Harry shift and wrap his arms around Ginny protectively. I really am happy for him, that he finally has someone who makes him happy, and he doesn't have to leave for a year anymore, and that he doesn't have to worry about Voldemort. Seconds later I was asleep also.

**Author's Note – The song isn't mine, it's Buckcherry's Sorry.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny Ginny

I woke the next morning to Harry's arm around my waist. I suddenly realized how stupid it was to sleep like that across from Ron. I gently slipped away from Harry and stood up. I jumped about a foot in the air when I heard Hermione say good morning and turned around to see her standing up too.

'Hermione! You startled me!'

'Oh, I'm sorry Ginny. I didn't mean too.' I smiled and shook my head.

'No no it's alright.' We headed up the staircase to the girl's dormitory.

'So,' Hermione started. 'It looked like you and Harry were getting pretty comfy last night.' She smiled and I felt the heat rise in my face.

'Yeah, well… Merlin, I missed him so much Hermione!' Hermione gave me a sympathetic smile.

'He missed you too Ginny. Rom and I could both tell. He looked like he had lost his best friend, and he basically did.' I didn't know how to react to that so I didn't reply. We sat in silence for a while more. After a few minutes I asked,

'Um, Hermione why are we up here?' Hermione shrugged and replied,

'I don't know. Just to talk about girl stuff or something I guess.' I didn't know what to say and then I smiled.

'So, how about you and Ron?' I asked grinning mischievously, watching the blush rise in my friend's cheeks. I let her stammer for a few minutes until I caught my breathe from laughing and said, 'It's okay Hermione. Harry told me about the happenings in the Room of Requirement.' Her face, if possible, got an even darker shade of red. We stayed quiet for a few minutes afterwards until Hermione asked,

'Ginny, have you ever thought of the future?'

'Actually, I have, wondering if Voldemort is going to kill me or my family in the next week,' I said sarcastically.

'No, no, I don't mean it like that. I mean have you ever wondered what life would be like once Voldemort was gone?' I was startled by this question.

'Not really,' I said slowly. 'I mean its always been Voldemort this, Voldemort that. What about you?'

'Not so much until just recently. I've started thinking about jobs and such.' She blushed at this point and said, 'I was also hoping to get married and have a few kids.' I suddenly knew why she was blushing.

'You're thinking about Ron, aren't you?' I asked grinning.

Hermione

This is so embarrassing!

'So,' Ginny started speaking. 'How long have you seen Ron as your future husband?' She was grinning and I knew I was blushing.

'Just yesterday,' I muttered not making eye contact with her. Ginny smiled.

'When did you realize you fancy him?'

'Sixth year,' I said quietly. Ginny nodded and didn't say anything for a bit. I smiled suddenly and asked,

'How about you? Have you ever thought about getting married and having kids?' I knew by her blush that she had indeed thought about it and I knew _whom_ she thought about it.

'Yeah, I have,' she answered. She was really red in the face but she was smiling.

'Who?' I asked. She blushed even more and said quietly,

'Harry.' I smiled and hugged her.

Ron

I woke up and paled slightly when I saw that Hermione wasn't beside me but relaxed when I noticed that Ginny wasn't there either. I realized that they were probably in their dormitory talking. I stood up and was about to go find them but stopped when Harry started moaning in his sleep. I ran up half of the staircase to the girl's dormitories before it turned into a slide and I fell back down. I stood up, cursing because I had forgotten about that factor and then called up the staircase,

'Hermione! Ginny!' Seconds later they were both sliding down the stairs with looks of worry on their faces.

'What's wrong, Ron?' Hermione asked me. I pointed to Harry and Ginny sprinted over to him where he was mumbling and sweating quite a bit. I saw Ginny take his hand and heard her whispering,

'Harry, wake up. It's not real. It's just a dream. Wake up, Harry.' Suddenly he screamed in what sounded like pain and startled all three of us. Tears were running down his face as he thrashed around on the couch. I pulled Ginny back so she wouldn't get hurt by one of Harry's flailing limbs. She kept struggling until I threatened to stun her. She stopped but I noticed tears in her eyes. This was obviously hurting her.

'How do you stand seeing him like this?' Ginny whispered suddenly. 'How can you stand around and watch?' I went to answer, but Hermione beat me to it. _Typical._

'Ginny,' she started soothingly. 'He'll be fine. He's been through this so much. Usually it's very difficult to wake him. He wakes when he does, or wait until he stops thrashing and then try and wake him.' I could tell that Ginny didn't like this answer, but she walked away from me and curled up on the sofa across from Harry, her eyes never leaving him. I turned to Hermione and hugged her. I hate seeing Harry like this. It makes me feel so useless. A few minutes later, Harry stopped thrashing and I watched as Ginny approached him again and took his hand, whispering to him. He moaned, rolled over, and retched over the side of the sofa.

Harry

My head was throbbing, my throat was sore, I was sweating horribly and I was shaking uncontrollably. I sat and leaned against the back of the sofa and Ginny sat beside me, rubbing her hands along my arm trying to comfort me. As I thought about my dream, I couldn't help but let tears fall from my closed eyes.

'Harry? What's wrong?' Ginny asked quietly. I didn't answer. Not even a minute later, I heard Hermione say,

'Um, Ron and I will just, go get um, er, we'll go get some breakfast for everyone.' After I heard the portrait hole close, Ginny asked gently,

'Harry, what's wrong? Was it your dream?' I nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak just yet. 'Do you want to talk about it?' I thought about it.

'Was in the forest. Voldemort. You, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Mum, Dad,' I started very quietly keeping my eyes closed. 'Killed everyone. Put me under Cruciatus Curse. Woke up.' Ginny took my hand and gave it a squeeze. I'm so grateful for Ginny. She doesn't even know that she's the main reason I kept through the war. I leaned over and hugged her, letting her feel my gratefulness. Hermione and Ron walked in and we jumped apart. Hermione smiled at us and set the stack of toast they had picked up on the table. I wasn't hungry so I turned around on the sofa and went back to sleep.

Ginny

A few minutes after Harry went back to sleep, Hermione turned to me and whispered,

'Is he asleep?' I leaned over him and whispered,

'Harry. Are you awake?' He didn't reply and he had a normal breathing pattern so I said, 'Yeah, he is. Why?' She glanced at Harry before asking quietly,

'Did he tell you what his dream was about?' I sighed and quietly told them about Harry's dream. When I finished, I couldn't exactly tell what the looks on their faces meant. We all started to speak at the same time when a groan coming from Harry stopped us. He was tossing and turning in his sleep. I took his hand and started rubbing it, muttering soothing words to him, and almost instantly he fell into a peaceful sleep once more. I looked up to find Ron and Hermione staring at me.

'What?' I whispered.

'How did you get him to stop that? His moaning and turning and all that.' Ron asked. I shook my head. I had no idea. Hermione had a knowing look on her face. I looked at her questioningly. She shook her head slightly and gave me an 'I'll-tell-you-later' look. I gave a slight nod and we were silent once more, having forgotten what we were going to say before Harry interrupted us. Quite a while later, each of us was in a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hermione**

I was disturbed sometime in the early hours of the morning by a particularly loud hoot. He must have woken the others as well, as I heard Ron cursing under his breath. Seeing that no one else was going to pick up the letter, I did and read the name. I read Harry's name on the front and handed it to him. I watched him open it, his green eyes scanning the page, his face blank the whole time. He looked up when he finished reading and said,

'Kingsley wants Ron, Hermione and me to meet him in McGonagall's office to discuss something.'

'When?' I asked. Harry glanced down at the letter again and said,

'As soon as possible.' I nodded and stood up pulling Ron with me. I saw Harry lean towards Ginny, so I pulled Ron to the portrait hole as he glared at the pair. A few seconds later, Harry caught up with us and we walked in silence to the Headmistress' office. When we entered, Kingsley asked us to sit and we obeyed glancing at each other. Kingsley began and I focused all my attention on him.

'First off, I would like to congratulate and thank the three of you for finally finishing this war and getting rid of Voldemort. Now, on to business, I have called you here to discuss your near future. I have three options that you may choose from, but I first need to know what you would like to do.' I turned a slight pink at this because I knew that once Harry and Ron heard what i wanted to do they would bug me to no end about it. I realised Harry had started speaking so stopped my train of thought and listened to him.

'I wanted to be an auror,' he said slowly. Kingsley nodded and turned to me.

'I er, I wanted to help improve the lives of house elves.' Kingsley nodded and said,

'That would put you in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.' I nodded to show I understood. 'And you, Mr. Weasley?' I saw his ears turn red.

'Well, I er, I wanted to be an auror as well, but I er, I wanted to help my brother in his joke shop for a bit first...' He trailed off looking down at his shoes as I took his hand. Kingsley nodded and said in a sympathetic voice,

'I'm sorry about your brother. He could make us all forget about the war for a moment or two.' Ron swallowed and nodded. I stroked his hand with my thumb as Kingsley started to speak again.

'Now, your three choices are, one; you may all start your jobs right away. Two; we can find someone to teach you what you missed over the past year, basically like tutoring. The last option is to come back to Hogwarts for your last year.' At once Harry said,

'Hogwarts.' I looked at him surprised. I sat and thought about it as did Ron. Hogwarts was by far the most appealing option to me so I said,

'Hogwarts,' at the same time as Ron. We shared an amused grin. Kingsley smiled and replied,

'Very well. You will each get a letter before September.' We nodded, shook hands with Kingsley and headed for the door. Before we left, Kingsley said,

'One last thing, Harry?' Harry turned. 'Good luck with the fans.' Harry grinned and said,

'Thanks, I'll need it.' As we headed back to the Common Room, I happened to glance at Harry and noticed something. He had a strange look in his eyes and that's when I realised something. While we were in hiding, he would be quiet for long periods of time and he would have that look in his eyes. He also had that look in his eyes when he said he would come back to Hogwarts for his last year. But what could it mea-, I've got it! It's happiness, love, joy. It all ties in with Ginny also! He would be thinking of her in hiding during those long silent periods, Hogwarts... he would be with Ginny at Hogwarts! I can't believe I missed this! I wonder if Ron noticed. Probably not. He's clueless with these types of things. Anyways, he would have mentioned something by now. When we got to the portrait hole I said,

'Um, Harry, would you mind if Ron and I went for a walk?' I don't want him to feel left out, even though he has Ginny, it wouldn't make him feel very well if we just left. I want to tell Ron about my discovery. Harry looked bemused as he said,

'Okay, see you later?' I nodded and Harry continued into the Common Room. When the Portrait Hole closed, Ron and I started heading for the grounds. Once we were further away from the Common Room, I asked,

'Ron? Have you noticed anything different about Harry?' I have to be careful. I don't want to upset him. Ron looked at me and said,

'Well, of course I've noticed something different about Harry. He is Harry Potter after all.' I shook my head. See, clueless.

'No, Ron, I mean er, have you ever noticed how he acts around Ginny?' He was quiet a bit and when I started to wonder if he had heard me he said,

'No...' very slowly. I sighed.

'Ron. Whenever he's around her, talks to her or thinks of her he gets this... um, this special... look in his eyes. Ginny makes him really happy, Ron. Didn't you ever notice anything different about him while we were in hiding? How he would be quiet for those long periods of time? I think he was thinking of her. He missed her. Or even last year, while they were together. He was happier than he had been for such a long time. Don't you realize now?' After five minutes I asked,

'Ron?' He started and said,

'What? Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking, and... I think you're right.' I smiled. We walked the rest of the way to the Entrance Hall in silence. When we got to the Entrance Hall, however, we were engulfed in such a strong hug; I thought my ribs would snap.

'Hermione, dear! Ron! How are you two? Where are Harry and Ginny?'

'Uh,' I said thinking fast. 'We've just er, been resting somewhere, and er, when we left Harry was sleeping and er, Ginny had just woken up when we left.' Mrs Weasley nodded and said,

'We've decided to leave tomorrow. Meet here at eleven in the morning. Make sure you pass it on to Harry and Ginny.' We nodded and had no choice but to turn around and head back to the Common Room. When Ron and entered the Common Room, I immediately spotter Harry's unruly black hair and the Ginny's red hair. I started towards them but stopped when I heard someone give a sob. Were we walking in on something private? I turned around to head back out when Ron walked right past me. He obviously didn't hear them. I groaned quietly and followed him to the other two. What I saw broke my heart but also put a smile on my face. Ginny was crying into Harry's chest, and Harry was rubbing her back, whispering in her ear. When we sat Harry noticed us and gave me a 'can-we-be-alone-for-a-minute' look. I nodded and grabbed Ron's hand, dragging him up to his old Dormitory.

Good thing I put a silencing charm on the door before we entered.

'Bloody hell, Hermione! Why is my sister crying?' I had hoped he wouldn't ask that question. I sighed and bowed my head.

'I think, er, I think she's finally realised that, that Fred's gone...' I said quietly.

'Oh.' He said, and he put his head in his hands. I sat down and hugged him. I've never lost someone as close as an intermediate family member, so I don't really know how to help. I need to ask Harry how he coped. I listened a hard as I could to figure out if Ginny had calmed down or not. I couldn't hear anything so I lead Ron down to the Common Room. Ginny had tears running down her face but she wasn't making a sound. Harry had pulled her into a hug and was rubbing her arm. I gave a small smile at the couple. They were so perfect together. I sat Ron down beside Ginny and watchd as Harry let Ron comfort her. Harry stood up and motioned for me to do the same. We walked up to the boy's Dormitory again and Harry lay down on what I remember as his bed while I sat on Ron's

'I thought we should let those two be alone for a bit,' he said. I nodded and watched him. He closed his eyes but stayed awake. He then sat up and started running his fingers over his scar.

'Is it still hurting?' I asked concerned. He jumped a bit and said,

'No. Just trying to let the fact that it'll never hurt me again sink in.' I nodded. After a while I said,

'Mrs Weasley said we're leaving tomorrow at eleven in the Entrance Hall.' Harry looked slightly crestfallen at this news.

'What's wrong?' I asked him.

'Nothing, I'm fine.' I was smarter than that but let it go. After a while we both ended up falling asleep.

**Harry**

When I walked back into the Common Room, I was thinking of how happy Ginny would be when she found out that I was coming back to Hogwarts, but apparently, she had something different in mind. I could see her sitting on the sofa, but she was silently shaking. I hurried over to her and saw that she was sobbing. I don't know what came over me, I'm usually not very good with sobbing girls, but, somehow I knew what to do for Ginny. I hugged her to me and she clung to my shirt front. I felt my shirt get wet as she started sobbing even more. I rubbed her back and whispered nonsense words into her ear, trying to calm her. Even though she didn't say anything, I knew what was wrong. Fred's death had hit her just now. I kept whispering to her and didn't notice Ron and Hermione enter until they sat down across from us. I gave Hermione a 'can-we-be-alone-for-a-minute-please?' look. She nodded and dragged Ron up the stairs to out Dormitory. Ginny had calmed down a bit so I said,

'It's fine to cry Ginny. Everyone's lost someone, and everyone deals with it differently.' I felt my eyes water a bit thinking of Sirius, but didn't let the tears fall. After a while, Hermione and Ron came down. I let Ron comfort Ginny an tears fell down his face. I don't think I've ever seen him cry. I guess there's a first for everything. I defiantly know that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Harry**

'Urgh. Who the hell is shaking me?' I thought angrily as someone very roughly shook me awake. I opened my eyes and saw Ron standing over me.

'Finally!' He exclaimed. 'You aren't so easy to wake you know.' I glared at his back as he went to wake Hermione up.

'Git,' I muttered under my breath as he very gently tried to wake her.

'What time is it?' I asked. Ron glanced at his watch and said,

'Half nine.' I nodded and said,

'I'll just go wash...' he nodded and continued trying to wake Hermione up.

I went to the toilet and looked at my reflection. I had dirt, dust and blood all over myself. I hadn't had a wash for almost five days. I stepped into the shower and let the water run over my body. It felt so relaxing. After quite a while I washed myself. When I finished, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist and surveyed myself in the mirror. I had so many cuts and bruises on my body, it was unbelievable. I turned to my clothes and cast a quick Scourgify on them seeing as I had no other clothes with me at the moment. I looked at myself in the mirror and a small smile. I was clean, but you could see all of the cuts and bruises on my face. I sighed and headed down to the Common Room.

I stepped off the last step and looked around the room for someone. I spotter a head of long red hair and smiled. I headed over and saw that Ginny was curled up on the sofa watching the dying fire Hermione had made the night before. I sat down beside her and she sat up, leaning her head on my shoulder. We stayed like that until Ron and Hermione came down the stairs saying we had to leave in a few minutes. Suddenly I realised I hadn't told Ginny that I was coming back to Hogwarts next year. I leaned over and whispered exactly that to her. She looked at me, surprised, and slowly a grin crept its way on to her face, until the depressed look had disappeared, and she was looking at me with pure joy. She gave me a hug and we both forgot that Ron and Hermione were in the room and had to be reminded by a small cough from Ron.

**Ron**

Hermione and I made our way to the sofa across from the one Harry and Ginny were on.

'We have to leave soon.' Hermione said. I watched as Harry suddenly leaned over and whispered something in Ginny's ear. All of a sudden, her eyes went from depressed to joyful. I looked at Hermione questioningly, but she only smiled and gave me a long, obvious blink.

'What the hell?' I thought. I sat completely bemused for a minute until I remembered our conversation from the day before. I looked at Harry's eyes and realised she was right. There was something there that would defiantly make some appearances while we were in hiding. I came back down to Earth and saw that they were still embracing. I gave a small cough to remind them of our presence.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy it's Harry and not Dean or Michael, but I really don't appreciate public displays of affection. They broke apart and I gave them a quick glare and Hermione elbowed me in the side. We all stood up and headed to the Entrance Hall. Harry and Ginny walking slightly ahead of us. When we got to the corridor before the Entrance Hall, Harry and Ginny slowed down and went on either side of us. Hermione then dropped my hand.

'Hey, what-' I began, but Harry cut me off.

'Do you really want your mum to know you're with Hermione?' I flushed a bit. If she found out, my brothers would find out and would never stop pestering me, and mum would never leave us alone.

'Point taken,' I said to Harry. He smiled. We turned the corner and heard,

'Harry! Ginny!' and they were crushed in one of my mum's hugs. I turned to Hermione and whispered,

'Does she already know about them?'

'No, remember, we just saw her yesterday.'

'Oh...' Mum finally let go of the two and I snickered as they doubled over, gasping for air. Suddenly I was being embraced and I ended up doubled over gasping for breath, just like the other three.

'Come now, the portkey leaves in five minutes.' We followed her to the Entrance Hall and crowded around an old Daily Prophet with the rest of my family. We all put a finger to it when dad started to count down from five. I felt the familiar jerk behind my navel as my feet left the ground. A few seconds later, my feet, and then my arse hit the ground as I fell backyards. I glanced sideways to see that Ginny had fallen right on top of Harry and both were slightly red in the face. We quickly got up and followed my family into the Burrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ginny**

I can't take this anymore. I need Harry.

We're at Fred's funeral, and here I am, normally the one who never cries, but these past few days, I've been breaking down at the oddest moments. Yesterday, it was when Ron asked me to pass the potatoes. I'm surprised Harry hasn't gotten tired of it yet. Anyways, right now, I'm sobbing into Ron's shoulder, not Harry's otherwise it would arouse suspicion. I glanced at Harry and saw that he had his hands full comforting Hermione. She isn't sobbing, like me, but never ending tears are sliding down her face. Ron, he's the same as Hermione. Harry, well, he's the closest I've ever seen him to sobbing. His eyes are full of tears and he keeps swiping at them so they don't fall.

The rest of my family is just horrible. Mum is sobbing terribly loud; dad is comforting her while tears are sliding down his own face. Bill is being comforting by a sobbing Fleur. Charlie and Percy have tears falling down there face, and George. He was pale, unmoving, he looked... dead.

As soon as the ceremony finished, the four of us immediately went up to Ron's room. Mostly because it was the farthest and most secluded from the rest of the house. As soon as Hermione finished the locking and silencing charm on the room, I dropped beside Harry and sobbed into his shoulder. I put my arms around his neck to prevent myself from falling as he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my hair. After a good hour, I had calmed down and lifted my head from Harry's shoulder.

'I'm sorry.' He looked bemused.

'Sorry for what?' I didn't know how to answer. Because I just spent an hour sobbing into your shirt? Because I've been bursting into tears all week? Because Ive been boring all week?

'I- I don't know,' I admitted looking anywhere but at him. He gently but firmly took my chin in his hands and gently turned my head so I was looking directly into his eyes.

'You don't have any reason to apologize,' he said quietly. 'It's- it's me who should apologize.' He let go of my chin and walked over to the window. I followed quietly, so as to not wake Ron and Hermione whom had fallen asleep earlier.

'For what?' I asked putting my hand on his. He ran his hand through his hair, something I've never seen him do before, making it even wilder than before. He said,

'For- for what I did to you.' I didn't answer. 'For ending it at Dumbledores funeral, and then leaving to who knew where without saying good-bye,' his voice cracked a bit. And then for scaring everyone at the battle. I stepped between him and the window and kissed him.

You have nothing to apologize for either,' and I kissed him again. We jumped a foot in the air when Ron said loudly,

Oi!

Chose the wrong moment to wake did you? I gave Harry a peck on the cheek and pulled him down to sit on the bed beside me as Hermione stirred.

Whats wrong Ron?' she asked when she saw him glaring at us.

Ì woke up and saw these two snogging over by the window.' Hermione, Harry and I stared at him before we started laughing loudly.

'Oi! Its not funny!' he said over our laughter, still glaring at us.

Yes, it is!' Hermione said before she started laughing again, followed by Harry and me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hermione**

'When are we leaving?' I asked. Harry, Ron and Ginny looked up from the chess match between Harry and Ron, looking completely bemused.

'Leaving where?' Ginny asked.

'Australia,' I stated simply, making the jaws of Harry and Ron drop.

'Merlin, Hermione, we completely forgot. I'm so sorry,' Harry said.

'No, it's fine. I should have asked earlier.'

'Um, can someone explain?' Ginny asked, looking pointedly at Harry, he still had to tell her everything that had happened over the past year.

'Oh, right, well uh last year before Hermione came here for the wedding, she modified her parent's memories so they'd have no idea they had a daughter, and they're now living in Australia.' Ginny stared at Harry.

'Wh-why did you do that?' she asked me.

'Well, I had sort of told them quite a bit about Harry, and I didn't want the Death Eaters to target them so...' Ginny nodded to show she understood.

'Well, let's start planning then,' Harry said. I smiled at him gratefully.

'Wait, how're we going to get there,' Ron asked. I looked at him thoughtfully. I looked at Harry and got an idea. I think he got an idea at the same time.

'I think I know what you're going to suggest,' he said. I grinned.

'I think I know what you're going to suggest too.'

'Airplane?'

'Airplane,' I agreed, nodding, grinning. Ron and Ginny looked at us, confused. We grinned at each other and turned to the other two when Ginny asked what an airplane was.

'It's an um... You've seen those things flying through the air before, right? The big grey things? Those are airplanes. They're sort of like a broomstick. They-'

'I know what they are!' Ron exclaimed cutting me off. I glared at him. 'Anyways, there is no bloody way you are getting me on one of those. I've heard that people die!'

'Oh, grow up Ronald!' I snapped back at him. I'm getting tired of his deciding things before learning more about them.

'I've been on an airplane before, am I dead? No, I'm not. They're not dangerous, right Harry?' I turned to look at him. He started and took one look at me before saying to Ron,

'Uh, Ron airplanes aren't dangerous. I've never been on one, but loads of the kids who hung around with Dudley have been on them, and my aunt and uncle have been on them plenty, and they're still alive. Unfortunately,' he added under his breath making Ginny laugh.

'Thank you Harry,' I said looking back to Ron. 'I don't care if I have to stun you and stuff you in my bag; you're coming with us on that airplane.' I watched, satisfied as he wordlessly opened and closed his mouth a few times before I spoke again.

'Okay, when are we going to leave, and what are we going to tell your parents?' I looked at Ginny. Ginny gave an un-lady like snort and said,

'We're going to have a bit of trouble with mum. She's not going to give in easily.' She paused uncertainly and spoke quietly, 'can we not leave until after my birthday though? It's only in a few days. I don't want to end up being a burden on you three because I can't use magic. And anyways, if she says no, at least I'll be of age and I won't have to listen to her.'

'Of course, we can leave on the... fourteenth? That gives us about two weeks, and we'd still have plenty of time to do our school shopping when we get back. When are we going to ask your mum though? And who's going to ask her?' The four of us looked at each other uneasily. I know that each of us has either experienced or seen Mrs Weasley's wrath once before. Maybe I should ask her... She wouldn't give me as hard a time as I'm not actual family, would she?

'I'll do it. I'll ask,' I announced. The other three turned to me.

**Ron**

'You're mental, did you know?' She really is. She has no idea what the hell she's getting in to. Mum can tend to be very persuasive, she'll just say it would be better if we waited or something.

'At least I'm going to face her and not cower in my room, scared of her.' I glared. I am not scared of my mum. Well, I'm usually not scared of mum.

'Well, why doesn't Harry ask her?' Harry looked at me as if I was mental, which I admit, I am a bit.

'Why should I ask her? They're Hermione's parents!'

'Well, mum would probably say yes if you ask,' Ginny said. 'I mean you did save the wizarding world from Voldemort.' She said all this while grinning, but Harry's expression wiped it off extremely fast. I guess he's still a little sensitive about the war and all.

'I'm sorry,' Ginny whispered.

'It's okay; I just need a bit of air.' Hermione gave me a worried look as Harry stood up and left the room. Ginny stared after him helplessly, a stunned expression on her face.

'I don't think you should have said that Ginny,' I said quietly. She turned to me and spat,

'Oh really? I hadn't noticed. I thought it was the perfect thing to say and don't regret it in the least. I'm just going to forget it while Harry goes and sulks about in the yard.' With that, she got up and left the room, slamming the door behind her making the window rattle.

'What the bloody hell was that about?' I've no idea how to read girls. I don't have a clue what they're thinking most of the time.

'Ron, I hate to say it, but you were a little tactless there. Ginny realised that she said the wrong thing. You didn't have to say it aloud.'

'Well, why'd Harry take that comment so badly?' I searched Hermione who was biting her lip uncertainly.

'I don't know. I think he's having a tough time with the war still. I mean, we all are but he was right in it.'

'He seemed fine before though, and we were right in the war too.'

'It was Ginny's comment. You know he hates when people say he saved everyone. He's much too modest, also, we were in the war but it was sort of around Harry, what with the prophecy and all.' Sometimes, I think Harry's harder to figure out than girls. Mental he is, mind you, I think all four of us are mental actually...

'What're you thinking Ron?' Hermione was giving me one of her notorious searching looks.

'Nothing, just about how mental the four of us are,' I said making her smile and laugh a little.

'Are you really that scared of an airplane Ron?' she asked me quietly. Ummm, yeah, actually I am. Instead, I shrugged.

'Honestly Ron, there's really nothing to be afraid of. Like Harry said, plenty of muggles have traveled by airplane, and no one's died. It'll be fine. I've been on an airplane a few times before; it's nothing to be worried about. Harry hasn't been on one before and he's not scared.'

'I guess.'

**Harry**

Why the hell did she have to say that? I'm overreacting, but it still annoyed me for a reason unknown to all. Bugger.

'Harry?' I jumped. Bloody hell! Give me heart failure why don't you? It's Ginny though, so I'd rather not say that. I nodded my head, not looking up from where I was sitting under our tree, to show I knew she was there. We had it titled our tree since we always sit under it. More times than none, Ron and Hermione have found us in er... compromising positions.

'I'm sorry; I didn't mean it how it sounded, I wasn't thinking.' She was talking so quietly, I could hardly understand her.

'It's okay, no really it is,' I said before she interrupted.

'I don't know why I acted like that; it was just how you said it I guess.' I waited for her to reply.

'Ginny, really it's okay.' She won't look at me.

'Ginny...' I turned her head to face me.

'I know you didn't mean it, so I'm not going to dwell on it.' She nodded her head a little.

'Really Ginny, it's just harder for me than others. I'm starting to get over it. I actually think that going to Australia will be good for me. I wonder if I'm as famous there as here...' At least that made her laugh a little.

'You're not mad?' I snorted quietly.

'I don't think I could stay mad at you even if I wanted to. Especially when I know you're so good at that bat-bogey hex.' She leaned over and gave me a hug.

'Thank you.'

'Ummm, you're welcome?' she laughed.

'Hey! I don't know why you're thanking me!'

'I'm saying thank you for forgiving me.'

'Oh, well, you're welcome then.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Hermione**

'I'm asking tonight, after dinner,' I announced as the four of us were sitting in the back garden at the Burrow. The other three looked at me surprised. I don't understand why everyone is so scared of Mrs Weasley. I mean she's a human being just like us.

'So soon? My birthday's not for another week,' Ginny exclaimed.

'Yes well, I thought, since we have everything organized and ready, I might as well ask sooner than later, that way she'll have time to cool off if she doesn't like the idea.' Ron snorted and said,

'Believe me Hermione; she is definitely not going to like it. She'll do whatever she can to keep us from going. She'll use the excuse that Ginny's not old enough-'

'Excuse me?' Ginny asked, making me wince. She was using that dangerously calm voice. 'What the bloody hell do you mean I'm not old enough? I'll be of age by the time we leave.' Ron paled. I looked at Harry who was sniggering and had to turn away so I wouldn't burst into laughter.

'I didn't mean it like that, Ginny. I meant that mum won't see you as old enough.' Ginny sat back and glared at Ron as he averted his gaze from her.

'Anyways,' I continued once I had control over myself.

'How should I go about asking?' Everyone sat in silence for five minutes before Harry asked,

'Do you want them to know what you did to your parents?' I shook my head,

'Not particularly, no.'

'Well, then you can say the four of us have decided that we need a vacation, and we chose Australia, and on the way back, we're going to stop at your house since none of us have met your parents before.' Wow, since when has Harry been so good at concocting plans?

'Okay,' I agreed.

'Now that that's settled, can we just relax? I'm so tired...' Ron yawned and lay down on his back, closing his eyes.

'I'm pretty tired too, considering Ron keeps me up with his snoring every night.' Harry mimicked Ron's position, leaving Ginny and I sitting up, looking at our respective other. I shook my head and leaned against a tree.

**Ginny**

Well, this should go smoothly. Hermione's just finishing her dinner, and she's going to tell mum that we're leaving. Everyone else has left the kitchen except for us. Harry and Ron look pretty frightened. Personally, I think there's going to be a shouting match.

'Mrs Weasley?' Here we go...

'Yes Hermione?'

'Ummm,' she glanced at me. I can tell she's nervous.

'The four of us,' she gestured to Harry, Ron and I.

'We've decided that we need a vacation from everything that's been going on, and we thought we would take a trip, just the four of us.' She rushed on,

'We would only be gone for two weeks, with plenty of time to do our school shopping and such when we got back. I thought that I would take them to my house on the way back for a few days so they could get to know my parents, considering I already know everyone else's fairly well.' She glanced sympathetically at Harry who gave a weak smile in turn. Bugger, I just had to sit between Ron and Hermione... Mum studied Hermione.

'That sounds like a lovely idea, dear.' My jaw dropped. I looked at everyone else and saw they had the same expression.

'Re-really? It's fine with you?'

'Of course, dear. But I do need to know the details. When will you be leaving and when will you be back, where are you going... I wouldn't be a very good mother if I didn't know those details, now would I?' Damn, I knew it was too good to be true.

'Oh, ummm we were going to leave on the fourteenth and be back on the twenty-eighth.' Clever Hermione, skip where we're going, I nodded approvingly.

'That's fine, but where are you going?' Damn.

'Australia,' Hermione answered very quietly.

'No,' mum said sharply. I groaned quietly. Get ready for some yelling.

'Ginny's not of age, and _Australia?_ Why on earth would you want to go there, it's much too far.' Not of age? Oh, here we go...

'Mum, I'll be of age by the time we planned to leave. You don't have to treat me like a child! Merlin knows I'm tired of it.'

'Ginny, I don't care. You'll have only been of age for three days, that's hardly old enou-'

'Have you missed everything I've done since I started at Hogwarts? Voldemort in year one, Department of Mysteries year four, I fought Death Eaters year six and have you forgotten that I fought at the Battle of Hogwarts a few months back?'

'Yes, I am aware of what you have accomplished, but none of those things should have happened shou-'

'Don't you get it mum?' I yelled. Now I'm really ticked off. 'I've done more than witches double my age! This isn't about being of age; it's about how mature I am. Why do you think we chose three days after my birthday? So that I could go with them without being a burden because I couldn't use magic! Anyways, we've made all the plans already, so whether you like it or not, we're going on the fourteenth, and you can't stop us because we'll all be of age. Those three were on the run for a year, trying to kill Voldemort, while I was at school leading a resistance group. Harry is probably the most powerful wizard now that Dumbledore and Voldemort are gone. Hermione is the smartest witch I've met and Ron's Ron! We can all handle trouble if it finds us!'

Now I have to leave. I stood up and vaguely heard my chair fall onto the floor. Wiping furiously at my face as tears I didn't even notice fell down my face. As I dashed up the stairs I passed dad who was heading down to the kitchen. Probably to see what the yelling was about. I ran past my room, straight to Harry and Ron's. I slammed the door shut and fell onto Harry's bed, sobbing. I heard the door open and close but didn't acknowledge it at all.

'Ginny?' Great, it's Hermione. I gave a muffled sob.

'Ginny, to let you know, I agree whole heartedly with you. Your mum was acting completely out of line. I think she just doesn't want to face the fact that her youngest, and only daughter is coming of age.' I sat up; wiping my face with a cloth Hermione had conjured.

'I know it's just she's so bloody protective of me, I can't do anything at all without her hovering over me.'

'Language.' I glared at her. I don't feel like being scolded for my language at the moment.

'I know. You just have to try to be a little more sympathetic towards her. Anyways, I passed your dad on the way up. He's talking to your mum right this moment.' I nodded. I don't think I can speak right now.

**Ron**

Well, that was interesting. I had a feeling there was going to be some yelling. Oh, here's dad.

'Molly, what's all the yelling about?' Mum turned to dad, her face was almost the same colour as her hair.

'Oh, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry though they'd like to take a vacation for the rest of the summer.' Dad looked stumped. Good old dad.

'I don't see the problem. I think it's a brilliant idea.' Mum gave dad a deathly glare.

'They want to go to Australia, by themselves.'

'Dear, now don't get upset, but I heard Ginny shouting from our room, and she had some fairly good points.' He turned to us as mum turned to the sink.

'Go upstairs,' he mouthed. Harry and I nodded without hesitation and almost ran up the stairs.

We stopped outside the girl's room but didn't hear them, so we head up to our room, where, sure enough, Ginny's sobbing on Harry's bed with Hermione kneeling on the floor in front of her, comforting her. I don't think I've ever seen her this upset. Harry went over to the two and sat down on the bed beside Ginny. I went and sat next to Hermione on the floor. Ginny wiped her face and gave Harry a brief hug.

'I'm sorry, I must look so stupid. I'm not supposed to cry, it's stupid...' Ginny mumbled. Harry gave her a one armed hug.

'It's not stupid to cry,' I heard him whisper. I pretended to gag, earning a glare from Ginny and Harry and a blow to the stomach from Hermione which hurt.

'Kids, can I come in?' We jumped when we heard dad at the door. Harry and Ginny quickly separated as did Hermione and I. I guess none of us are ready to reveal the truth yet. He came in and sat down on the bed beside Ginny, putting his arm around her.

'I talked to your mum, and she's agreed to let you go to Australia. She still isn't a fan of the idea though, so just mind you behave around her for a while.' We all nodded and he stood up and left. I turned to Hermione who had a huge smile on her face.

'Now I won't feel guilty when we leave about upsetting you mum,' she said quietly as I hugged her.

'Hermione, only you would feel guilty about doing something without permission.' I laughed as she playfully stuck her tongue out at me. I leapt at her, tickling her sides.

'Oh, you two are very mature,' I heard Ginny say. I stopped to look up and saw that her face was still tear stained and her eyes were red but filled with laughter as she laughed out loud at us. Harry was next to her, covering his face in his blankets to prevent us from seeing him laughing at us. I glared at them and went back to tickling Hermione mercilessly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Harry**

'Harry, wake up.'

'Go away,' I muttered, rolling over in my bed so my back was facing Hermione.

'Harry, you have to wake up. We're leaving today, and our flight leaves at twelve. We have to be there for eleven.'

'What time is it now?'

'Seven, now get up.' I groaned again and sat up, running my hand over my night side table looking for my glasses as Hermione moved to Ron.

'Bloody hell,' I heard Ron yelp as Hermione laughed. I can only imagine how she woke him up. Smirking, I picked out some clothes for the day and went to the bathroom.

As I opened the door to leave the bathroom I collided with someone who had long red hair and was much shorter than me. I caught Ginny round the waist just before she fell down the stairs.

'I'm so sorry, Ginny! Are you okay?' she laughed and said,

'I'm okay Harry, really, I'm fine.'

'If you're sure,' and after a fast glance around I gave her a quick kiss. As I started pass her, she grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear,

'Once we leave, we'll have more time alone.' I pretended to look scandalised, but inside I was happy I'd get some alone time with her.

'Why Ginny, what are you suggesting?' She just smiled and closed the bathroom door in my face. Smiling and shaking my head, I made my way up the rest of the stairs to Ron's room.

'Why're you so happy? It's eight in the morning. We should still be asleep...' I ignored him as I packed all my last minute items in to my bag. It would probably be much easier to use our trunks, but Hermione doesn't want us drawing any unnecessary attention to ourselves.

'Harry, Ron, get down here now! We have to leave in ten minutes!'

'Damn,' Ron swore as Hermione kept yelling for us to hurry.

'I haven't even eaten yet.'

'Don't worry, mate. They give food on the airplane. Besides, your mum probably packed something for us.' Ron mumbled something that I couldn't understand and followed me down the stairs.

We set our bags at the door and hurried in to the kitchen where Mrs Weasley was hugging Hermione and Ginny good-bye. She saw us and gave us a bone crushing hug each.

'Now, I've packed some lunch for you in the bag Hermione's carrying. Mind you don't leave it until it's old. Do you have everything? Money, clothes, wand...'

'Mum,' Ginny interrupted.

'We've packed everything four times or more due to yours and Hermione's insisting. We've everything. Don't worry about us we'll be fine,' she concluded giving Mrs Weasley another hug.

'Now Arthur's waiting outside with a car he rented from the Ministry. Don't forget to write a least twice, and be safe.'

'Mrs Weasley, I don't think owls will be able to bring you two letters while we're in Australia. It's quite far. You'd probably get the first one a day before we arrived back. We could send one though?' Hermione's testing the waters here.

'Yes yes, that's fine. As long as I get at least one.' She gave us each another hug and shooed us out of the house, while tears started down her face.

'Mum's never been one to stand strong,' Ginny whispered to me, making me grin. We all piled in to the car where Mr Weasley was waiting for us.

'This ought to be fun! I've never been to a flight port before.'

'It's airport, Mr Weasley,' Hermione corrected, grinning at me.

'Oh yes, of course,' his grin became even wider. I shook my head, smiling.

**Hermione**

When we got to the airport, Mr Weasley parked, all the while muttering about how muggles come up with such interesting things. I'm glad he's not coming with us; otherwise he'd drive me mad with all his talk about muggles. I like him immensely, but when it comes to muggles... When we got to the check in, we each gave Mr Weasley a hug before I handed out the passports I had gotten earlier.

We dragged our rucksacks and bags to the line and ended up waiting only five minutes before it was our turn.

'Passport please,' the woman at the desk asked. I handed her my passport and studied her while she stamped my passport and put all my luggage through. She had long blonde hair with bright blue eyes. She was short but it suited her. She was actually very pretty. I made sure Ron didn't ogle at her, otherwise he'd have me to answer to. He didn't though. I think it was partially due to the fact all this muggle stuff is new to him.

Once all of us finished, we headed in to the waiting area.

'How long until our flight, Hermione?' Ron asked. I glanced at my watch.

'A half an hour.' Ron groaned and slumped in his seat. I sat down beside Ginny, dropping my bag on the floor, looking around. The room was almost empty. There was another group of four, two couples and a group of five. I guess not many people are going to Australia this late in the summer. Or maybe they're going to Calgary, Canada, where our flight makes a stop. Honestly, I've never been to Canada, and I'm very excited. I've heard about it, as my cousins visit their friends there yearly. It sounds wonderful. They talk of all the wild life, woods, lakes and rivers. It's a shame we can't stay for a while though.

'Those on flight Q-F-0-0-3-2, would you please proceed to the boarding area now.' I jumped up when I heard the woman's voice on the speaker.

'That's us, guys. C'mon, hurry now.' I glanced at Ron and had to groan. He was green in the face and wasn't moving.

'Ronald, come on. Harry, Ginny, you go ahead. Harry you know what to do, right?' Harry nodded and pulled Ginny forwards, to the gate. I sighed and went over to Ron who was still in his seat.

'Ron,' I sat down beside him.

'We have to go, or else the airplane'll leave without us. Ginny's not afraid. Why're you so nervous?'

'Oh, Ginny's afraid. She's just not showing it.' Why oh why does he have to be so stubborn. I mean, really, it's just like flying a broom.

'Ron come on. You'll be fine.' I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the gate. When we got past the guard, we went to our seats which we behind Harry and Ginny's.

'You okay mate?' Harry asked turning around and seeing Ron's green face.

'Oh, he'll be fine. He's just nervous.' I glanced at Ginny and saw that she was staring straight ahead, hardly blinking. She was also looking a little pale.

'Ginny, are you alright? You don't look so well.' Harry glanced at her and said to me,

'She's just nervous. Why are they both so nervous? I mean, it's the same as a broom, only it's the pilot with control.' I shrugged because I honestly have no idea.

'Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please secure your belongings and buckle up, we will be taking off in two minutes.' A woman's voice came over the speaker. I saw Harry turn to Ginny and help her with her seat buckle.

'Ron, do you need any help?' I asked turning to him. He was holding his buckle, looking at it like it had five heads.

'Er, yeah, help would be greatly appreciated.' I smiled and showed him the proper way to do it up and sat back as we started to move. Ron was holding on to the arm rest so tight, his knuckles were white and he had his eyes closed.

'Ron relax, it's not so bad, is it?' He opened his eyes and looked out the window. I saw him visibly relax and he asked,

'How long until we stop?'

'Um, twelve hours.'

'Bloody hell.'

**Ginny**

Riding on an airplane is nothing like I imagined. It's actually slightly fun.

'See, I told you there was nothing to be worried about,' Harry teased when we were in the air. I smacked his arm softly.

'I was not scared. I was nervous.' He snorted,

'Oh that's such a difference, Ginny!' I scowled.

'You're a git, did you notice?'

'Am I?' He asked, faking hurt. I nodded my head, my face serious, but my eyes told otherwise, I knew. Damn my eyes.

'Well then,' he said in an authoritive tone, 'you are too.' I rolled my eyes.

'You're impossible.'

'Thank you.' I groaned.

'That's getting annoying now.' Harry just smiled and kissed my cheek.

'That's the point,' he grinned.

'Oi, I don't want to see you two snogging in front of me!' Harry and I groaned and rolled our eyes, turning round to see Ron glaring at us.

'Ron, leave them alone!' Hermione scolded. I turned back to the front and said under my breath,

'We just had to sit in front of them, didn't we?' Harry smiled and said,

'Oh well, we can annoy him all we want, while he has Hermione to keep him under control.' I couldn't help but laugh. Harry's great. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as Ron gave another grunt. I 

turned and gave Ron a sweet smile before turning forwards again and leaning my head on Harry's shoulder, trying to fall asleep. Honestly, Hermione got us up much too early.

When I woke up, I rubbed my eyes and looked beside me to see that Harry had fallen asleep. Great, what am I to do? How long is this ride anyways? I turned around to ask Hermione but she was asleep. Ron was awake though, maybe he knows.

'Ron, do you know how long the ride is?' He started and looked at me.

'Er, I think Hermione said twelve hours.' I stared at him.

'Bloody hell, twelve hours sitting! What in the name of Merlin are we supposed to do for twelve hours?'

'Well actually Ginny, we've been flying for six hours already,' Hermione said waking up.

'Six hours?' I asked her surprised. She nodded.

'As for what to do, why don't you talk with Harry?'

'He's asleep,' I replied darkly.

'Oh, well then you could read or write or draw or you could watch a movie.' Huh?

'What's a movie?'

'A movie's like a wizard photograph, I guess. You know how they move? Well, a movie is like that. It's basically a wizard photograph that tells a story. They come with sound too.' Wow, the things these muggles come up with.

'Er, I'll try watching a movie I suppose.' Hermione smiled and stood up.

'Hey, I thought we had to stay seated during the ride!' Hermione grinned and shook her head as she kneeled beside my seat.

'No, that's only when we're taking off or landing. You can stand up to go to the toilet and such, but they advise people not to stay standing too much. Might lose their balance.' I watched as she pressed some buttons on a square box on the back of the seat in front of me. She took a piece of paper out of her pocket and looked it over.

'I'll pick this one for you...' I watched in fascination as she pressed some buttons and a cartoon picture came up on the box.

'This is called Sleeping Beauty. Just watch for a while and if you don't like it, then tell me and I'll change it. Oh, and you have to wear these.' She handed me a metal headband with circular foam ball type things on the end.

'What the hell is this?' I asked her. She can't expect me to wear it. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly, earning a glare from me.

'These are called headphones. You put them on like this.' She put it over her head so the foam type balls were covering her ears.

'And these parts,' she indicated the foam balls.

'There are miniature radios which let you hear the movie.' I took the headphones from her and stared at them.

'These have a mini radio in them! How do the muggles do that?'

'Technology,' she shrugged. I don't want to hear her explanation, so I didn't ask. I settled back in my seat as Hermione went back to her seat. As I watched the movie, I realised two things. One, muggles have to be smart to come up with this kind of stuff, and two, movies are fun to watch.

**Harry**

As Ginny settled her head on my shoulder, I had to smile. Two free weeks. Two weeks of no hiding or quick precious moments stolen away from the prying eyes of the Weasleys. Yeah, they're all great people, but I don't fancy having five male, of age wizards, all with the Weasley temper on me. It would most likely ruin the moment. Thinking about this causes nostalgia of sixth year.

As Ginny's breathing became a more regular pattern, I grinned to myself. I don't have any idea what it is about Ginny, but she just makes me happy. It may be the fact that she doesn't treat me as the Boy-Who-Lived or The Chosen One, but just Harry. Maybe it's because she's a sense of humour that can cheer me up whenever I'm 'brooding' as she calls it. She's also very strong. She's not the type to cry over little things. All I know is that she makes me happy, and I'm okay with that.

Sometime during my thoughts, I guess I fell asleep, because the next time I woke up, Ginny was in her seat, asleep again, but the screen in front of her was showing a movie... Bloody hell, Hermione had gotten to her already. It was Sleeping Beauty. I haven't seen that for ages. I looked behind me, but Ron and Hermione were having a discussion about... Merlin, she's mentioned the telly to Ron. That'll take a while to explain. I wonder how much longer until Hermione tires and tells Ron to wait until we get to the inn to see for himself.

I looked beside me as Ginny shifted. She opened her eyes blearily, took off the headphones and asked,

'Are we there yet?' I laughed and turned back around to the other pair who were both red in the face now. To stop any bickering before it get out of hand, I asked loudly,

'Hermione, how long until we-'

'Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we prepare to land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in two minutes. Thank you.' I grinned,

'Never mind,' and turned around to help Ginny re-buckle her belt. As the airplane descended, Ginny grabbed my hand, her eyes shut. When we finally touched down, I grinned at Ginny when she opened her eyes and gestured to our interlocked hands.

'Can you loosen your grip a bit? I'm losing circulation in my hand and fingers.' She turned pink and let go.

'I'm sorry, I hadn't realised I was holding so tightly.'

'It's okay, Ginny,' I laughed. I stood up to get our bags from the top shelf.

'How do muggles do it?' I turned to Ginny and shrugged.

'It's not like they have any other choice. Anyways, it isn't that bad. I actually quite fancy flying on an airplane now, granted it takes quite a lot longer than apparating, but it's a nice way to relax.'

'I suppose. Where are the other two?' I glanced behind us and smirked.

'Looks like they're taking their time.' I pointed behind me to Ron and Hermione who were holding hands and going so slowly causing everyone following to pass them, glaring at the couple which was in deep conversation. Ginny laughed and said,

'We should wait for them before we lose each other.' I agreed and we sat down on a wooden bench. When they finally got to us, we stood up and made our way to the next waiting area.

'Hermione, what is the time here, exactly?' Ron asked. I actually want to know as well.

'Honestly Ronald, look at the clock.'

'What clo- Oh,' Ron turned to look where Hermione was pointing, and I did too. It was five o'clock here.

'Hermione,' I asked.

'Is it Monday or Tuesday here?'

'It's still Monday here. It's Tuesday back home though. I'm pretty sure it's mid-night there.' I screwed my face up as I tried to figure it out. Forget it; I'm not going to even try.

'So, we have round an hour before our next flight leaves, so we can walk round the airport and look at stuff I suppose,' Hermione said.

'Why don't we go look at all the shops?' I suggested.

'You brought muggle money, Hermione?' She nodded.

'I have some Canadian money here…' She dug through her beaded bag. I don't think it's left her side since the end of the war actually.

'Here we are,' she pulled out lots of colourful paper money.

'Why don't we go around together instead of parting?' Ginny suggested. Everyone agreed so we ventured out to the terminal. We came to a souvenir shop, containing the Canadian flag, and other things that must be strictly Canadian.

'We have fifteen minutes, we should get back,' Hermione stated after forty-five minutes of shopping and looking around. We all headed back, laden with bags.

Ron had bought a large container of maple syrup. No surprise there. I've no idea what else he bought.

Hermione had bought a new winter hat. ('Did you know, here in Canada, during their winters, the temperature can get up to minus forty-five Celsius, and forty Celsius in the summer in some places?' Hermione had said.)

Ginny had bought a sweater, scarf, and mittens all a deep green colour.

Me, I had bought a red and white shirt, which I think was coloured for the flag. Honestly, the whole souvenir shop had been red and white. I really admire the people here for their support of their country. They're also very friendly people, I've realised. Whenever we were in a shop, the employees would come up to us and ask if we needed help. Voldemort could learn some manners from them.

**Ron**

When we took off again, I was used to the feeling, but that doesn't mean I liked it. Harry and Ginny were in front of us again and I could see through the small space between the seats they were laughing and talking and having fun. At least they weren't snogging, but I don't think either of them are going to in public. They're smarter than that, although Harry can be quite thick at times.

'How much longer, Hermione?' I complained.

'Ron,' she looked amused.

'We've just boarded twenty minutes ago. We still have almost eight hours.' I groaned. The bloody airplane could not go slower.

Well, at least Calgary was interesting enough. A break from the boredom of riding an airplane. The food they eat wasn't that different from ours I've realised. I've never actually thought about other place's food.

'I'm bored.' I stated simply. Harry turned around and asked in a low whisper,

'Would you rather hunt Voldemort again?' Okay, I guess that wasn't the wisest thing to say. I guess he was satisfied when I felt myself flush dark pink. He turned back around, but I caught a smile on his face. That little bugger! He just guilt tripped me! How can I get him back? Hm… I've got it.

'Harry, that guy ahead of you just took a picture. He has a wand!' I whispered. Harry shot forwards, eyes darting around the airplane. I guess I should stop him before he does something drastic.

'I'm just kidding Harry. I had to get you back didn't I?'

'Oh, you just wait until we get to the inn. I'll get you back.' I grinned, it's on.

'Are you sure about that?'

'Oh, I'm as sure as I was that Malfoy was a Death Eater.' I grimaced. I guess he never really did get around to telling us we were wrong and he was right.

'Hermione, what time'll it be when we finally land?' Hermione looked up from her muggle novel and said,

'In Australia, it'll be six in the afternoon. In Calgary, it'll be two in the morning, and back home it'll be nine in the morning.'

'Well,' I started.

'We're going to be pretty tired, aren't we, going half way round the world?' Hermione laughed and said,

'Yes, we will be pretty tired. We'll probably have to spend an entire day sleeping once we get to the inn. It looks as if those two have started catching up on their sleep though,' she pointed to Harry and Ginny who were both still.

'Merlin, how long can they sleep?'

'Well Ron, we were up fairly early.'

'I was aware,' I glared quickly.

'But still, that's quite a bit of sleep they're getting.' Hermione just shrugged and settled in to her seat.

'I'm going to try and sleep for a bit too. There's a nine hour difference between here and England, did you know?' I smiled as she closed her eyes. I love how she knows everything. Although it can get a little annoying. Okay, very annoying. She can also be very bossy… Ah well, there's nothing I can do. I'm afraid I've fallen for her knowledge, looks and bossiness. I've realised I'm strange, there's no need for anyone to point it out. I guess since I'm the only one awake from the four of us, I might as well get some sleep too.

'Ron wake up. Ron, Ronald wake up already!' Yes, I'm aware Hermione is trying to wake me, but it's just so comfortable here in this seat, why should I wake?

'Ron, the lady with the food trolley's just passed,' I heard Harry say urgently. My eyes flew open, looking both ways for the... Wait, he was joking!

'Oh, you're dead, Potter. Just you wait until we get to the inn.'

'I'm counting the minutes, Weasley.'

'Enough you two, we have to buckle our seats again.' Huh, why? Are we there already?

'Why do we have to buckle? We can't be there already, can we?'

'Yes Ron, we're landing in five minutes. That's why I was trying to wake you.' Wow, these airplanes actually do go fairly fast when you're sleeping most of the time.

As the airplane descended, I glanced out the window to see it was still light out.

'What time is it here?' I asked. She groaned,

'It's just a little after six in the afternoon here. We can go some place to get dinner before we apparate to the inn, if you like.'

'Sure, why not?' I asked nonchalantly. She grinned at me.

'I know you're just dying for some food. We're still going to have to pick up our luggage though. We can store everything in here,' she gestured to her beaded bag.

'That way we don't have to stop at the inn first.' I swear, she thinks of everything.

'Ginny, Harry, keep up please!' Hermione called over her shoulder to our other half. They were walking incredibly slow, talking together. Their rucksacks were dragging on the floor behind them.

'Why are the walking so slowly? Merlin, we don't walk that slowly.'

'Actually dearest brother,' Ginny interrupted, appearing beside me.

'You do walk that slowly. When we arrived in Calgary you two were holding up people and earning quite a few glares for yourselves.'

'Wh- you, I... we, no!'

'She's right mate. You two were walking so slowly, I'm surprised you weren't staying where you were.'

'Shut up Harry. Ginny's a bad influence on you. You're spending too much time together,' I muttered. Ginny slapped me.

'Ouch! What the hell was that for?'

'Language Ron,' Hermione scolded me.

'She hit me Hermione! Scold her for violence or something!' She ignored me.

'I quite like Ginny around me a lot, thank you,' Harry said, grasping Ginny's hand. Urgh.

'Anyways,' Hermione interrupted.

'I've found a pub where we can grab some food, and then we'll apparate to the inn.' I hadn't even noticed she'd left and come back.

'We need our lug- oh, here it comes now.' We followed her over to a long belt like thing that was spinning in a circle. People's luggage was appearing on it too.

'Just look for you bags and when you see them, grab it off the belt.'

After a bloody twenty minutes, we all had our luggage. We all followed Hermione out of the airport I think it was called, to an alley.

'Okay, everyone shrink your luggage and I'll put it in my bag.' She then showed us a picture of the pub we were going to and we all arrived ten seconds later.

**Hermione**

We all apparated to a pub in Perth, on the other side of Australia from Sydney. We all trouped in and sat at a table before we ordered. As Ron and Ginny started talking about how smart muggles were, Harry turned to me and asked,

'So your parents are living in Perth?' I nodded and looked out the window.

'They should be relatively easy to find if they're in the directory. Wendell and Monica Wilkins is what they would be listed under. I'll check when we get to the inn. We can wait a few days before we go to get them so we can enjoy the holiday a bit though.' Harry nodded and asked me with a mischievous grin,

'Are you going to tell them about yourself and Ron?' I looked at him like I was seeing him for the first time.

'I don't know actually. It's nice not having anyone but us four knowing.' Harry snorted.

'I know what you mean. When we go back to Hogwarts, someone's bound to leak it to the Prophet.' I nodded sympathetically.

Once we had finished our dinner, I showed everyone a picture of the inn we were staying at. City Waters Hotel was the name. After we all apparated to the hotel, we hurried to an alley close by where I gave everyone their luggage and had them enlarge it. It would look strange if we checked in with no luggage. 

When we got our keys (since I had reserved two adjoining rooms) and had payed for our stay of a week, we headed up to our rooms.

'What rooms are we?' I asked Harry who had the keys. He glanced at the keys and said,

'Room seven A and seven B.' I nodded and we took the stairs instead of the elevator. I was in no mood to explain to Ron and Ginny how it worked. I was very, very tired. I unlocked the door to seven A and we all trudged in. I went to the door that joined the two rooms and unlocked and opened it. Ginny and I were taking seven B so we went in to the adjoining room and dropped our bags by a bed each.

'I suggest we all go to sleep now since it's eight, that way we can be up early tomorrow morning,' I said walking back in to the boy's room with Ginny following. Everyone agreed with me and so we bade each other good night. Harry and Ginny went in to the girl's room while Ron and I stayed in the boy's room. I gave Ron a big hug and whispered,

'Thank you for agreeing to come with us. I would miss you terribly if you hadn't.'

'Well, I wouldn't let you three go off on an adventure without me.' I laughed quietly and gave him a long gentle kiss. We pulled away when we heard a cough from the door. Harry and Ginny were standing in the joining door smirking at us. But oh, it was so sweet how they were standing. Since Harry was almost a head taller than Ginny, he was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, with his head on her shoulder. Ginny was holding his hands at her waist.

I grinned shyly at then before giving Ron a quick kiss on the cheek and a hug before going past Harry and Ginny in to our room.

'Oh, and Ron, please don't touch anything you don't know how to work, like the telly. I don't want anything to get ruined.' Harry and Ginny laughed as I smiled and went in to my room.

I watched as Harry and Ginny shared a kiss and parted for the night, wishing each other good night.

When she walked back in to our room I stopped going through my bag where I was looking for my pyjamas and dressing gown to sit back and look at Ginny. She was smiling widely, but had a glossed over look on her face.

'Ginny?' I asked quietly. I don't want the guys hearing us.

'Hm? Oh hi Hermione.'

'Ginny, are you okay?'

'I'm fine, why do you ask?'

'Because you have a smile the size of your face.' She looked down and said, still smiling,

'I'm so glad Harry came on this trip. We haven't spent this much time together since my fifth year. I can't believe we can spend even more time together now. I'm just hoping he isn't as big in Australia as back home. I don't fancy reporters ruining the trip.'

'Don't worry Ginny, we don't have any need to go to the wizard area of Perth, so we should be fine.' She nodded and headed to the toilet to change in to her pyjamas.

When we were both in bed, we bade each other good night before I turned out the lights. So far, the trip was a success.

I'm glad everyone came with me on this trip. It just wouldn't be the same after all that time Harry, Ron and I spent over the last year. I just feel as if I can't be away from either of them for too long or I'd go mad. I also think it's the perfect opportunity for Harry and Ginny to bond and talk. They can't exactly do that at the Burrow. It's the same for Ron and I. I might as well get to sleep then. I think everyone else is already.

Yeah, I can hear Ron's snores.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ginny**

I woke the next day, and I was very groggy. I'm not kidding. I feel as if I haven't slept for ages. I rolled over in my bed to look at the time. It was already twelve thirty in the afternoon. I absolutely hate this whole time change thing, whatever it's called. I guess I should go have my shower before Hermione wakes. She tends to use a lot of hot water and I can't remember the warming spell at the moment.

I think I'm going to look in on the boys before I have my shower actually. I know Ron is still asleep as I can hear his snores. I'm not sure about Harry though. How can anyone sleep through that? Well, Harry's probably used to it, sleeping with Ron for seven years and all.

As I quietly pushed the joining door opened, I glanced back to make sure Hermione was still asleep. Yeah, she's still out like a wand light.

Of course Harry has to be in the farthest bed. I quietly pad over to his bed and looked down on him. He looks so peaceful, so much different from when he's awake. He looks like a kid again. I assume all of us do.

I don't want to wake him so I don't touch him. I sneak back to my room and go into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

'We're going swimming? Where? I don't have a swim suit either.' Yeah, I just got out of the loo to be bombarded by Hermione saying we were going swimming later this afternoon.

'Don't worry. We're not going until the late afternoon when it's warmer, so we can get a swim suit before then. There's a nice beach I heard about earlier so we can go there.'

'Okay, you've thought this all out I see.'

'We'll go as soon as I've had my shower. Be ready. Oh, and the boys brought some breakfast back. It's in their room.' Great, that means I've ten minutes. She always has very hot, fast showers.

So, I have no idea what to wear. I mean, what's the weather like here? I guess I'll open a window and check... Oh yeah, it's pretty warm. So I guess I'll wear my white shorts and red tank. I'm too lazy to do anything with my hair, so like it or not it's staying down. I'm assuming Harry'll be okay with that, he likes me to leave my hair down so he can run his hands through it. He's never told me, but I can tell.

I went out into the boy's room where Harry was looking at a box thing like that picture Hermione showed me on the skyplane, only the picture kept changing. Ron was staring at it while eating a muffin.

'What are you two doing?' I asked. Harry looked up at my voice and beamed at me.

'I'm watching the telly, and Ron is trying to figure it out.' I nodded and went and sat beside Harry, studying the little box.

'How do the people get in there?' Harry snorted but quickly turned it into a cough as I glared at him.

'They're not actually in there. They record the show before hand and then they play it back. It's complicated, I don't know how exactly.'

'Okay...' I nodded. Ron and I sat on either side of Harry as he pressed a button on a wand like thing, making the telly picture change each time. After maybe fifteen minutes, Hermione emerged from our room, clad in a pink top and brown shorts.

'Ready Ginny?' She asked me. I nodded and stood up, heading to the door.

'Don't they have to get shorts?' I asked, gesturing to Harry and Ron.

'No, they got some while you were in the loo.'

'Oh.'

'Let's go then.' We bid the boys goodbye and made our way down to the lobby. Once outside, Hermione led me to a clothing store next door to the inn. She dragged me to the swim suit section which was a bright, colourful section, hard to miss.

As we looked through, I started to get frustrated. I couldn't find anything I liked. Hermione didn't have anything either.

After a while, we each had three suits. I don't particularly like any of them, but I needed one so I randomly pick three.

'Ginny, are you ready for the dressing room?' I glanced down at the clothes in my arms and nodded. I followed Hermione to a dressing room and stop beside her.

'Who'll go first?' She asked me. I shrugged.

'Why don't we both try at the same time?'

'Yeah, okay.' We both went into a dressing room side by side. I closed the door and looked down at the swim suits I had. There was a green one, a blue one and a red, yellow and blue plaid one.

I tried the plaid one on first. Just as I finished pulling the bottoms on, I heard Hermione outside my door.

'Ginny, do you have one on yet? Let me see.' I glanced in a mirror. There is no way in hell I am going out there in this.

'You come in here. I am _not_ leaving the room in this.' She opened the door and stepped in. She was wearing a pink suit; I think she called it a bikini. In all honesty, it did not suit her.

'I have a feeling this suit doesn't compliment me very well.' I grimaced.

'No, it doesn't.'

**Hermione**

I sighed and went back into my dressing room. The next suit I had was yellow with black polka dots. As soon as I had it on, I knew it wasn't right.

'Ginny, I'm not even coming over there.' I just heard her grunt in response.

The last one I had was a royal blue colour. It tied up behind the neck and the bottoms were actually quite short. So far though, this one was my favourite and it was fitting me.

'Ginny, do you have something on?'

'Yeah.' I frowned. She sounded like she was trying not to cry. I hurried next door and saw her sitting on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest.

'Ginny, what's wrong? Does it not fit?' She shook her head and stood up. I had to gasp, she looked stunning in it! I know it sounds like I'm talking about a wedding dress or something, but it honestly suited her so well.

It was a triangle top, and showed quite a bit of skin. The bottoms were like mine and the whole suit was a deep green.

'Ginny, you look wonderful!' She smiled weakly.

'Thanks.'

'Don't you like it?'

'No, I love it, it's just I don't feel comfortable in it. I mean, I've realised I wore a dress that was fairly low for Bill's wedding, and I'm fine with the top, but I just can't wear the bottoms in public. It feels as if I'm in my under garments.' I nodded sympathetically.

'I know the feeling. They have shorts to wear over the bottoms though. We could look at a few.' Ginny seemed to brighten up after that.

We looked through all the shorts, and finally, I found a dark purple pair and Ginny found a black pair. They both went down to just above our knees which was fine with us.

I payed for our purchases and made our way back to the hotel.

Only took us an hour. Pretty good if I do say so myself. When I unlocked the door to our room, we trudged in and dropped our bags on our beds.

'Hermione Ginny, you back?' Ron poked his head around the door.

'Are we going right away?' Harry stepped into view. I rolled my eyes.

'Yes, we'll go as soon as everyone's dressed.' I hurried into the bathroom where I quickly slipped into my new swim suit. I also ended up pulling a light purple tank top on, just to wear until we got to the beach. I stepped out of the bathroom and heard Ginny ask.

'Why're you wearing a top?'

'I'm just wearing it until we get to the beach.'

'Oh, I guess I'll do that too?' She closed the bathroom door and was out in a matter of seconds. She went over to her bag and pulled out a yellow tank top, quickly pulling it over her head.

'Are you ready yet?' Ron asked, exasperatedly coming into our room.

'Yes Ron, we're ready. Right Ginny?'

'What? Oh, yeah I'm ready.' She quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail. I should do the same. I picked up my beaded bag and slipped on my white flip flop sandals, or whatever they call them down here. I waited until Ginny had her black ones on before rounding everyone up.

'You boys clean up nicely,' I teased as Harry and Ron appeared in our room. Ron was wearing, get this, maroon swim shorts and a white shirt with black sandals. Harry was wearing green shorts, almost the same colour as Ginny's suit and a black shirt. His sandals were black as well. They both turned a light pink and headed to the door. I grinned at Ginny and followed them out the door.

We caught up with them and I saw Harry take Ginny's hand as I took Ron's. He turned to me and grinned stupidly.

'Hermione, how far's the beach?' Harry asked me.

'Not very far. Just turn right at the next road and we'll be able to see it.' Harry nodded and turned back to Ginny.

**Harry**

As Ginny and I walked down the main road, our hands swinging slightly, we got to talking about swimming.

'When we were little and it was just Ron and me at home during the school term, we would wander our yard. One year we found a little pond. We went there every day until we could swim.' I grinned.

'The Dursleys never paid for lessons for me,' I admitted. 'I think they were hoping that one day I would go swimming and drown.' Ginny gasped.

'That's horrible! How could family do that to you? Anyways, you were able to swim during the second Triwizard Task.' I shrugged.

'I can swim, and I was able to swim much better during the Triwizard Tournament because of the Gillyweed.'

'Well, yes, but they're still family.' She hesitated and then asked,

'Would you ever contact them again? Say if you were getting married,' I glanced at her and saw she was blushing. 'Would you invite them to your wedding?' I shrugged.

'I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. I Guess I would invite them, but I wouldn't expect them to show.' She nodded and didn't say anything else until we got to the beach.

'Oh, look at the water! It's so beautiful!' Hermione gushed. I smirked as Ron rolled his eyes.

'Hermione,' Ron started. I would bet anything, that this'll end up in a row. 'It's just water. You've seen it before.' Hermione turned around and glared at him.

'For your knowledge, I have never seen water this clear before. That is why I'm so excited.' She turned on her heel before Ron could answer.

'Ron mate,' I said clapping him on the shoulder with my free hand. 'Don't wind her up, please? I mean we're on holiday at the moment. You two shouldn't be bickering.'

'I know you're right, I just don't know why we argue, we just do.' I tried to hide a smirk as I watched Ron run after Hermione.

'C'mon, let's go find a spot for our blanket.' I let Ginny lead me past crowds of people until we found a nice secluded spot. We sat down and watched the other couple who were a few yards away from us. We couldn't hear them, but we could see their actions. Ginny and I snorted when we saw Hermione poke Ron in the chest and he visibly recoiled. No doubt Hermione was threatening him. We waited for almost ten minutes before they came back. Both were red in the face.

'Do you want to go cool down in the water? You look a little red in the face,' Ginny teased. They both glared at her but agreed none the less.

Hermione and Ginny pulled their shirts over their heads and I had to remind myself not to stare as I felt myself turn a bright crimson. Ron was staring at Hermione, his mouth hanging wide open like he was seeing her for the first time. I elbowed him in the ribs to make him stop staring. We both decided to wear our shirts, so we ditched our sandals and raced to the water.

There was no one near us so we had a lot of space. We all splashed into the water. I shivered a little at the sudden coldness of the water. I swam a few yards to get used to it and to warm up. As I got back near the others, Ron dived under the water and grabbed Hermione's ankles, pulling her feet out from under her.

When she resurfaced spluttering, she glared at Ron before splashing him in the face. He coughed and wiped the water out of his eyes before grabbing her round the waist and pulling her under the water.

All the while Ginny and I watched with amused grins. I suddenly grinned mischievously and ducked underwater without Ginny noticing, and grabbed her round the waist. She screamed as she fell backwards underwater.

When we both resurfaced, we were laughing hysterically until she dunked my head under water causing me to come up, spitting water out of my mouth.

'Got you!' She called, already swimming away from me.

'Oh you wait!' I called after her. I swam as fast as I could, and caught up with her fairly quickly. I noticed she looked quite surprised.

'What?' I asked, amused. 'Didn't expect me to catch up?' She rolled her eyes and muttered something like 'prat.' I grinned and grabbed her arm as she tried to swim away and spun her round, pressing my lips firmly to hers. We stayed like that until Ron, the bloke with the bloody amazing timing called loudly,

'Oi! I don't want to see you two tied up together snogging at a beach, in public, in the middle of an ocean!'

'Stuff it!' I shouted back, half glaring, and half grinning.

'Nice,' Ginny nodded approvingly. I grinned at her and once again pressed my lips to hers. Once we were done, we headed out of the water, back to our blanket where we saw Ron and Hermione leaning against a tree, snogging the day away.

**Ron**

'Argh! What the hell!' I didn't even know Harry and Ginny were back until they threw sand over us.

'Decided to resurface?' Ginny asked as an eyebrow rose.

'Sod off,' I muttered, and I knew my face was red.

'Sod off?' Ginny asked quietly. 'Sod off? Here are you and Hermione the filthy hypocrites, snogging to no end; meanwhile you go mental when Harry and I, who are together, spend time with each other? You hypocritical-'

'Ginny, calm down,' Harry grabbed her hand and led her away. I'm glad for that. Her face was almost the same shade as her hair and her voice was getting louder each syllable. When they were a fair few yards away, I leaned back to Hermione but she pushed me away.

'What-'

'Ron, I agree with Ginny. We are being horrible, filthy hypocrites.' I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly and said,

'We are _not _being hypocrites. She's the one going mental every time she sees us together.' Hermione shook her head and gazed over at the other couple.

'Ron, we are being hypocrites. Well it's mostly you.'

'What? How the hell am I being a hypocrite?'

'Ron,' she sighed, sounding as if it was a long explanation. 'Whenever you see Harry or Ginny so much as hug or kiss, you go spare. You start yelling at them, you never give them privacy-' Privacy! Who in their right mind would give a couple like them privacy. I saw what they were like at school.

'Hermione, if we ever gave them privacy, do you have any idea what they'd get up too? You saw them at school-'

'Ronald!' I heard the scolding in her voice. 'Do you mistrust your best friend that much? You've known Harry for seven years for Merlin's sake! Harry would never do something inappropriate. They were separated for a whole year after being together for a few weeks. How would you feel if we didn't see each other for a year? Give them space and let them have fun. Have you forgotten what Harry looked like while we were in hiding?' I looked towards the couple. They were sitting on a big rock, talking. I watched as my best mate put his arm round my little sister's shoulders and gave her a one armed hug. I heard her laugh from here as she stood up. I watched as Harry stood and walked behind Ginny, wrapping his arms around her waist. Suddenly he had lifted her off the ground and was spinning her around. Ginny gave a shriek of laughter as she grabbed his hands so she wouldn't fall. I watched as Harry lost his footing and they fell to the ground beside each other, laughing loudly.

I heard Hermione laugh lightly.

'What?'

'I love watching them together. They bring out the kid in each other. Their love is so strong.' She had a glazed over look in her eyes. Wait, did she say love?

'What did you say? Love?' I asked incredibly.

'Yes Ron, I said love. You still haven't figured it out? Watch how they interact. Look at their eyes when they're together. I'm not sure if they've told each other, or even figured it out, but there is most definitely love between the two.'

'But-But that's my little sister! And my best mate! They can't l-love each other!' Hermione snorted.

'Ron, Ginny's hardly little anymore. Besides, you can't choose who you fall in love with. It just... happens.' I looked at her to have her staring straight at me.

'Ron,' she started in a whisper. 'I-I think I... Love you.' My jaw dropped as she looked away, but I quickly closed it. Did she actually say that?

The wheels in my head started turning. What do I say to that? I guess the first thing is whether I love her back or not. If your stomach turns when you're together, you can't keep your mind of her, you get jealous when she talks to another male, you long for her touch and you smile at the mere thought of her, then yes, I think it's safe to say I love her back

'Ron?' I started out of my thoughts at her tentative question.

'Hermione, I-I love you too.' Her smile grew to her ears, and I knew with certainty that mine matched. As we leaned closer together, I pulled back for a moment.

'What is it Ron?'

'I've just realised how mushy my thoughts are at the moment. I don't sound anything like my usual self.' She laughed and leaned closer to me again, whispering,

'That's one thing I love about you. Your humour.' Our lips met and they stayed glued together for quite a while until we were interrupted.

**Ginny**

'Oi Ron, I have to agree with Ginny about the hypocrite thing here. No snogging in public, honestly.' Ron pulled away from Hermione at Harry's comment and glared daggers at us. I had to burrow my face in Harry's shirt to stop them from seeing me snigger.

'Sod off you two.' I heard Ron say.

'Oh that's rich, coming from the hypocrite,' I snapped back coming out from my shelter of Harry's shirt.

'Okay,' Hermione cut in before Ron could retaliate. 'Can we all just _please _stop the arguing and such. We're on vacation. We're supposed to be having a good time.' I shrugged and said,

'I'm willing to come to an agreement if Ron is. But honestly Ron, I'm tired of you going mental every time you see Harry and me together. We _are _a couple, if you haven't noticed yet.' He glared as I grinned smugly.

'Ron, why don't we all agree that we can show affection, but not excessively? Does that suit your fancy?' Hermione asked him. He was red but nodded his agreement.

'Good, now let's forget all the bickering we've been doing and have fun.' I agree with Hermione. She is quite smart. As we sat down on the blanket Hermione had brought, I leaned against Harry's shoulder, revelling in the brilliant two days of holiday we've had so far.

After say five hours of swimming and lying on the beach, it started to get darker out, so we packed up and headed back to the inn. We all changed into our pyjamas and sat on the sofas in the boy's room surrounding the telly or whatever it was called. Harry and Hermione were attempting to show us how it works.

'I think you two should just give up. I don't get it and I don't think I ever will. We'll be here until we die, and frankly, I can think of a fair few things I'd like to do before that happens.' Harry laughed at my comment and pulled me into a hug. I relaxed into the embrace as Ron glowered at me a bit. I stuck my tongue out at him.

The second day in Australia was turning out to be a nice one. Hermione decided that we should watch a sunset, so for the day we walked around the town, and then closer to sunset we went to a beach and found a nice spot near the water. It was a lot cooler than the day before so we were all in sweats and sweaters.

Our third day in Perth was... interesting. That morning Ron had almost blown up a small oven thing, so Hermione and Harry decided they would give us a lesson on the muggle appliances in the room. I guess it was a good idea because I was scared to touch anything lest I blow it apart. It took _all _day. They had ended up taking us round town and showing us other things muggles use as well.

'This is called a microwave oven. Muggles use it to warm food and sometimes cook in it too. You put the food in here,' Hermione opened the door. 'Close the door and then press 'cook' and then type in the time you want your food to cook or heat for and press start. When it's done, open the door and take it out.'

That was fairly easy to remember. Then Harry showed us the icebox.

'This is basically what the name says. Muggles use it to keep food and drinks cold.'

Again, easy to remember. They showed us the telephone, light switches and plugs. Around town they showed us how to use muggle money, automatic doors and vending machines. I understand most of it now. It's just the telly that I don't understand.

So later that night, Hermione ordered a movie on the telly, something called _Titanic_. As it got further into the movie, I started yawning continuously. I leaned over on Harry's shoulder and closed my eyes. The movie wasn't very interesting at the moment. It was just a guy and girl talking. Nothing interesting there. As I yawned again I distantly heard Hermione say quietly,

'Here Harry, cover Ginny with this. She's shivering like mad. It is quite cool in here...' I felt a blanket being draped over my cold, curled body and then I fell asleep.

I woke up again when it was pitch black in the room, by someone's snoring. I was still on the sofa, covered in about five blankets and afghans. I slowly uncovered myself and dragged my feet to my room. There's no way I would be able to fall back asleep with Ron snoring in the same room.

A quick glance at a watch told me it was three in the morning here in Perth, Australia. I groaned quietly as my muscles screamed in protest at the sudden movement. I quietly crawled into my bed, thankful Hermione had suggested we change into our pyjamas before we watched the movie.

The next time I woke up, light was streaming in through the window in my room. I rolled over and saw that Hermione's bed was empty, but the chair beside mine wasn't. I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Harry in the chair beside my bed. He was asleep though, so he didn't notice.

I went to stand up but only made it a few steps before I stumbled back. Why am I feeling so dizzy? I gave a groan as the whole room started spinning. I guess someone heard me because Hermione came in a second later with a bottle of Butterbeer just as Harry woke.

Then three things happened at once. Hermione tripped and steadied herself in time, but not before she spilled Butterbeer all down her front. Harry fell into a horrible coughing fit, and me, on my way to help Hermione, got my foot tangled in the sheets of my bed and fell flat on my arse.

We looked at each other for a second before we all burst into laughter. Ron hurried into the room, bemused.

'What the hell-' but he was drowned out by our laughter. I stopped laughing suddenly though as my head started to pound.

'Urgh...' I fell back onto my bed, cradling my head in my hands. Harry and Hermione stopped too, but for different reasons. Harry started to massage his temples and Hermione cleaned her clothes.

'Ron, could you please go get another Butterbeer, thanks.' She hurried over to my bed and pushed me back into the soft, cool sheets.

'Don't try to stand Ginny. You've become ill. I've no potions, but I went and bought some muggle medicine. It's here somewhere... Ah, here it is.' Me sick, I never get sick! Well, I do get sick but not often. I pulled a face as Hermione measured out a spoonful of a thick, purple liquid onto a spoon.

'Ergh, what is that? It smells horrendous.'

'It's muggle medicine. You've only the common cold, so this should help immensely.' I took the spoon from her and quickly swallowed the liquid. Bloody hell, that's awful.

Harry started coughing again, and I looked over at him concernedly. He sounded horrible.

'Harry, are you alright?' Hermione asked. Harry shook it off.

'I'm fine, just a cough.'

'Harry, you're shivering! You're not fine! You've caught the cold from Ginny. Here, lay in my bed. We don't want you to pass it on to someone else.' I watched as she pulled Harry towards her bed and pushed him down, covering him in blankets.

'Hermione, really I'm fine,' he protested weakly. She ignored him as she poured some of the medicine on a new spoon, and pushed it in his face.

'Have this, I'll be right back.' She hurried out of the room.

Harry rolled over to look at me.

'I blame you for this,' he said smiling slightly. I shrugged and grinned cheekily at him.

'Not my fault you stayed in the same room as me.' Harry rolled his eyes but cringed and grabbed his head.

'Merlin, my head's spinning.'

'So's mine,' I told him.

'Well, this is fantastic. We've fallen ill on holiday and have to recover the muggle way.' I snorted

'Yeah, bloody brilliant.'

'If you two don't stop talking right this moment and try to get some rest, I will make you,' Hermione said coming into our room, wand in hand. I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. And so, we fell into silence, just watching each other. Eventually we ended up falling asleep.

**Harry**

The next time I woke, a quick glance at a clock told me it was half seven. I rolled over to see Ginny's bright brown eyes staring back at me.

'Sleep well?' she asked sweetly.

'Yeah, great.'

'That's good.' She sat up and stretched and I followed suit.

Ginny came over to me locked me in an embraced for a few minutes until I found my sense in the back of my mind and gently pushed her away whispering,

'No, we'll just get worse.' She frowned but obeyed. I know for a fact that she doesn't want to be stuck in here for the rest of our holiday.

We quietly padded over to the joining door. We saw Hermione and Ron cuddled up on the sofa, watching the telly. I looked to Ginny, grinning, to see her face matching mine. I put my finger to my lips 

and grabbed her hand with my other. Together we quietly snuck up on the unsuspecting victims. When we were right behind the couple, we grabbed their shoulders, and yelled,

'Got you!'

Bloody hell, I've never seen anything funnier. Ron spun around, thus ending up on the floor on his arse. Hermione shrieked and jumped up, hitting her knee on the table.

'What are you two doing? Trying to give me heart failure?' Hermione gasped, clutching at her chest.

'Bloody hell! You two are lucky I don't jinx you into oblivion!' Ron breathed. Ginny and I didn't hear them though, as we were holding onto each other for support, as our knees were going to give out because we were laughing so hard.

'When you two are done...' I heard Hermione say. When we finally calmed down, I looked up to see Hermione smiling down at me.

'What?'

'Nothing, it's just nice to see you two having fun even though you're ill.'

'Shouldn't you both be resting?' Ron asked.

'Since when did mum arrive?' Ginny asked looking around.

'Funny Ginny. You have a bad influence on my best mate.'

'You've said it before Ron, and I still don't care,' Ginny retorted. 'And I don't think Harry cares yet either.' I felt my face heat up a little bit.

'Yes, Ron's right, you two should still be resting. We don't want you to get worse,' Hermione stopped the argument coming along.

Now go on you two. Go get some more rest. We don't want you sick for the rest of our time here.' Ginny and I sighed simultaneously but obeyed the order. We crawled back into bed and I couldn't help but smile. This wasn't how I planned to spend today, but I'm fine with how it turned out. At least I got to spend time with Ginny. We turned to face each other and were whispering when we heard footsteps approaching. We closed our eyes as Hermione appeared in the doorway. I cracked an eyelid open to see her glancing suspiciously at each of us. She left and we both had to cover our heads with our pillows to prevent them from hearing us laughing in the next room.

**Hermione**

I know that they aren't asleep, but I'll let it slide. At least they're having fun even though they're sick. I sat beside Ron and leaned my head on his shoulder.

'After tomorrow we should start looking for my parents,' I said quietly. Ron shifted so he was looking me in the eyes.

'Are you worried about them?' He asked bluntly. I stared at him before nodding, feeling my eyes start to water. I wiped at them determined not to let the drops of water leave my eyes.

'There's no need to worry Hermione. If I know you and your magic, they would be safe for the rest of their lives.'

'But what if we can't find them?' I asked, voicing my most prominent fear.

'Then we'll stay here as long as necessary. We won't leave until we find them even if it means it will cut into the school term. I doubt Harry and Ginny will mind. We're all here for you Hermione.'

'He's right. We won't leave until we find them.' I turned around to see Harry and Ginny in the doorway.

'We'd come closer, but we don't want to pass this on,' Ginny said apologetically. I shrugged, cheering up a little.

'It's fine. Just the fact that you're all here for me makes it so much better.'

'It's like you said Hermione, we're in this together,' Harry repeated my line, making me give him a watery smile.

'Yes thank you Harry. You're right. I know none of you would leave until we've found them. I'm being silly.'

'Just a smidge,' Ron said, resulting in him getting a playful blow to the stomach.

'You two, _back to bed. _You're supposed to be resting, but you keep appearing in here! Go,' I shooed Harry and Ginny back into their beds.

'Those two will never stay put. They're much too stubborn for their own good. Merlin can only imagine what they'll be like when they're married.' Ron promptly choked on his Butterbeer. I waved my wand, clearing his air pipe.

'Married? They're only seventeen! How can they be getting married so soon! They never told me but they tell you! Bloody hell! My baby sister can't marry my best mate, it's just _wrong! _They're too young! Oh, you wait until I get my hands on Potter...' He made to stand up but I waved my wand four times. The first two were a silencing and imperturbable charm on Harry and Ginny's room and then a silencing charm and leg locking jinx on Ron. I sat him back down on the sofa and sat across from him saying,

'One, don't tell me you can't see them getting married. Two, they are not engaged. Harry has more sense than that to bind them for life so early. Three, when they do announce they are engaged, you had better not make a big fuss out of it.' I waved my wand twice, taking the silencing charm and leg locking jinx off of Ron, but left the silencing and imperturbable charm on the adjoining door.

'Have you honestly seen them married?' Was his first question.

'Have you honestly _not_ seen them married?' I countered.

Er...'

'Oh Ronald. I know we're the only ones who know they're together again, but I promise you, when your parents find out, they'll be saying the same. It's not that hard to see. They're obviously in love, even if they don't realize it yet. Now that you realize that they will be married, do you not think Harry would wait? They both have their whole lives ahead of them. Harry is not going to rush into it.' Ron shrugged.

'Also, when they do announce their engagement, try not to faint or do something stupid, please?' Ron looked at me affronted.

'Why would I faint? Anyways, what kind of _stupid things _could I do?'

'Oh, I don't know, try and strangle Harry or hex him into oblivion?' I said nonchalantly. Ron huffed and crossed his arms, pouting like a child.

'Oh do grow up Ronald, you look like a child,' I teased.

'I do not,' he said back. I couldn't help but giggle.

'Yes you do! Stop pouting!' He looked at me, still pouting before bursting into a smile and leaping on me, his hands tickling my sides.

'Ro-Ron! Sto-stop I ca-can't bre-eath,' I gasped. He got off of me and sat back beside me, grinning smugly. When I had my breathe back I said,

'That is much better than the pout you had on your face.' He smiled and I sighed contently, leaning into him. As we sat in silence, I realized something was... off. I can't hear anything from the other room...

'Oh my, I completely forgot!' I snatched my wand off the table and waved it at the adjoining door, removing the silencing and imperturbable charms. I settled back down as Ron started running his fingers through my hair. Why do boys like to do that so much? I've seen Harry do it with Ginny's hair countless times. I turned my head so I was staring into Ron's eyes and he quickly captured my lips with his. We stayed locked together like that until I had to pull away for loss of oxygen.

'I love you,' I muttered against his lips.

'Love you too,' he whispered back before we settled down and fell asleep.

**Ron**

Urgh, bloody hell, my neck... I am never, _never _sleeping on a sofa again. I shifted, accidentally waking Hermione in the process.

'Ah, sorry Hermione.' She shrugged and sat up straight, stretching.

'Oh, that hurts. Let's not fall asleep on the sofa again, okay?' I nodded without hesitation.

'Good plan,' I muttered.

'Shall we go see if the misfits are asleep?' Hermione asked me. I grinned and nodded, standing while giving my hand to Hermione to pull her up.

We crept to the door and peeked inside. They were both sound asleep, as we could hear their deep, even breathing. They were facing each other in their beds. Ginny was curled into a tight ball, and her face was slightly pale. Harry was on his side, but instead of his face being pale, it was flushed.

'Let's let them wake themselves,' Hermione suggested.

'I'll go have a shower then,' I said. She nodded and watched as I made my way to my bag and pulled out some clean clothes.

As I stepped into the shower and let the water run over my body, I started to think about what Hermione had said last night.

She had been talking so much of Harry and Ginny getting married. Was she hinting to something? Was she saying in code that she wanted to get married? Ever since we had told each other that we loved one another, I had been thinking of Hermione nonstop.

I wanted to marry her. That was a no brainer. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I wanted to say my vows at our wedding and have people make speeches on how we were meant to be together. I wanted to have rows as a married couple, and then make up with just one kiss. I wanted to go on our honeymoon to some warm, tropical place maybe. I wanted to make love with her. I wanted to have children with her and watch them grow up. All of them would have bushy red hair. I wanted to watch our children get married and have children of their own. Most of all, I just wanted to spend my life with her and grow old together.

I'm not sure, but I feel like she wants the same. I'm not planning on asking her anytime soon though. Even if she was right, and that Harry and Ginny are going to get married, I'm like Harry. I don't want to bind her to me while we're so young. For sure I'll ask her to marry me some time in the future, just not any time soon. At the earliest, not until we're out of school.

Oh bloody hell! Hermione said Harry and Ginny are in love and that they're going to eventually get married! This is Hermione! She's always right. Oh bloody hell, bloody hell!

I jumped out of the shower, used my wand to dry myself and jumped into my clothes before flying out of the loo only to stop dead in my tracks when I spotted Harry and Ginny sitting on the sofa. They were sitting close Harry whispering to her, running his hands through her hair. Ginny looked like she was trying not to cry.

'Where's Hermione?' I asked returning to the main problem at hand. Ginny scowled at me for interrupting them and answered quickly,

'She's having her shower right now.' I frowned and went to the ice box, looking for something to eat. I found a muffin and went over and sat down on the sofa across from the other two. They had gone back to the previous position, which I would say was questionable. Harry was running his fingers through my sister's hair and was muttering quietly to her as she listened intently. I leaned a little closer trying to hear what he was saying.

'Vold... Cru... Hag...' I didn't hear anything else as Hermione had just entered the room, her hair still a little wet from her shower.

'Hey, wait a minute, aren't you two sick? Shouldn't you be in the other room?' They glanced at me, but didn't say anything as Harry pushed on. I glanced at Hermione and she answered,

'I checked them before I went into the shower. They're both much better, still have a slightly stuffed nose and a fairly sore throat but otherwise, they're all clear. Oh and Harry that would mean you should be resting you voice.' Harry glared at her and kept talking, making Hermione roll her eyes.

'He's going to completely lose his voice,' Hermione muttered to me.

'Yes, it's all so sad, now I need to talk to you.' I dragged her into the other room and silenced it.

'What's wrong now Ron?'

'They're going to get married!'

'So you believe me now do you?'

'Well, you are Hermione, and you're always right, so that means they will get married.' Hermione stared at me before she started to laugh loudly. When she calmed down, she took on a more serious face and asked,

'On another note, do you know what the other two are talking about? They looked quite serious and Harry ignored me.' I swallowed. Should I tell her? I have a feeling I know what Harry's story is.

'I er, I think Harry's telling her about the past year. I heard Voldemort, Horcrux and Hagrid.' Hermione bit her lip. She only does that when she's worried or thinking really hard.

'Just let him finish his story. When he's done I'll bet he'll be fine. Ginny too.' Hermione nodded but didn't look too convinced. We went back into the other room and Hermione clapped her hands together saying loudly,

'I thought it would be nice to go out into town to look for some souvenirs for everyone back home.' Harry and Ginny nodded, half listening as Harry continued talking.

'How're we going to do that?'

'Oh I thought you could help me write a list of everyone we need to get for and then we can split it so the two of us get half and the other two get half.'

'Okay, that's a good idea.' Hermione beamed and took out a piece of parchment, a quill and an ink pot.

'Okay, who do we need for?'

'Er, mum, dad, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, George, and Fr- oh er never mind...' Hermione gave my hand a quick squeeze as she finished writing the list.

'Teddy and Andromeda,' Harry called out, his voice sounded hoarse. Hermione quickly wrote that down as well.

'Okay so Ron, you and I will shop for Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy and those two will shop for your mum, dad, George, Teddy and Andromeda. Sound fair?' I nodded.

'Harry, Ginny, come on. We should go soon and you two still need to have your showers.' I watched with a smirk as the two grudgingly got up and went to the separate bathrooms.

'Wipe that smirk of your face Ron or I'll add some bogeys to it,' Ginny said before she closed the bathroom door loudly.

**Ginny**

As I let the water slide over my body, I thought about what Harry had told me. When we had woken up, he had said he couldn't sleep and had decided he was ready to tell me about the past year. In exchange, I had to tell him about my year too.

He had told me everything. I mean everything right to the very end. Now I understand why it took him so long to tell me. I can't believe they were so close to death, so many times. Now I have to tell him about my year at Hogwarts.

I sighed and shut the water off. I dried myself with my wand quickly and jumped into my white shorts and purple tank top. I swear, its never below ten here.

'Oh, what's this Harry?' I picked up a can that said 'Coke'. Harry came over and took it from my hand.

'It's Coke. A muggle fizzy drink. It's actually really good. Haven't had it for months though. I think the last time was the summer before my sixth year. Here, I'll buy us each one.' I followed him to the checkout, and watched, fascinated as he counted out some pieces of paper which these muggles use for money. It's funny how in each couple, there's a muggle raised and magic raised person. Harry thanked the sales clerk and pulled me out of the shop.

'Here,' he handed me a can. I stared at it looking for a cork or something. How the hell are you supposed to open it?

'Um Harry, how do you er open it?'

'Oh, sorry, here,' he took my can and pulled on a tab causing a loud cracking sound. I looked at it warily before taking a sip. Oh wow! This stuff is actually very good! It has a sort of stingy, spicy kind of taste.

'Mmm, this is really good! I think you've gotten me addicted Harry!' Harry laughed and put his arm around my shoulder, giving me a one armed hug. I settled into his arms, sipping my fizzy drink, thinking about all the good times we've had so far.

After we had gotten everyone their gifts, we apparated back to our inn and settled on the sofa as Harry watched the telly. I was going over everything he had told me this morning.

It was really scary to think Harry had endured all of that. To think he had evaded death so many times.

'Harry,' I asked suddenly. 'What happened right before Voldemort h-hit you?' I felt him go rigid. Maybe I shouldn't've asked.

'I,' he cleared his throat. 'The last thing I thought about was...' I looked at him expectantly. What did he think of last?

'You.' I jumped when I heard that three letter word. I had most definitely not been expecting that.

'M-me? Your last thought was of me?' I asked quietly not daring to believe. He nodded, his eyes clouded over, head bowed.

Oh bloody hell, I'm tearing up.

'I also didn't tell you earlier that I passed you on my way to Voldemort.' I gaped at him.

'Why didn't you stop to see me?' I whispered.

'Because I wouldn't've been able to keep going. I missed you _so_ much Ginny, I couldn't stop otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go. I just, I couldn't. And then you were my last thought...' He trailed off.

I felt my eyes water again but didn't stop them as they fell down my face. I pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes. I felt his arms go round me and I leaned into him.

'I missed you so much. I could hardly sleep during the night. And then, when I thought you were dead, I didn't care if I died or not. Harry I missed you just as much. Please don't leave again. I swear I'll hex you so badly you _won't _be able to leave me.'

I felt him laugh and smiled up at him through my tears. He grinned down at me and pressed his lips to mine.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ginny**

I woke up to a loud, and I mean loud thud. I sat up in my bed and grabbed my wand from my night side table, peering towards the area the sound had come from.

'I'm sorry Ginny, I just dropped a book. You can go back to sleep if you want.'

'What time is it?'

'Nine thirty. Harry and Ron are already up as well.'

'I guess I'll go have a shower then.' I threw the covers off of myself and grabbed a change of clothes before closing the door behind me. I had a fast shower and quickly combed my hair into a plait. I stepped out to an empty room but heard voices coming from the boy's room.

'Morning Ron, where's Harry?'

'Shower.' I nodded and grabbed a muffin from the table before going to sit across from Hermione.

'What're you doing?' I asked. She had a thick book in front of her and was running her finger down a list of... Names I think.

'I'm looking for anyone with the same name I gave my parents. This lists all the people living in Perth and their phone number and address. It's called a directory.' I nodded my understanding.

'So have you found any matches yet?'

'Um... Yes! Listen to this. W and M Wilkins 08 941 7384 four Brookman Street! This must be them! There's no other Wilkins listed _and_ W and M are their initials. I've found them...' Hermione leaned back in her chair, a smile across her face. She leaned forward again and quickly wrote the information down. 'I'll be right back,' and she dashed from the room just as Harry left the bathroom.

He made his way over to me, sitting on the chair beside me and pecked me on the cheek.

'Where'd Hermione go? I saw her run into your room just as I opened the door.'

'She found a match for her parents in the dire- er this book here.' I couldn't remember the name of the book Hermione was looking through so I just showed Harry.

'Ah, the directory.' He pulled it towards him and looked down the same list as Hermione. 'They are in here! She must be so relieved.' I nodded in agreement.

'Ron you've been awfully quiet. What's wrong?' He looked like he was having an internal battle.

'I have no idea.' I shrugged and turned back to Harry.

**Hermione**

'Can you three please keep up?'

'Hermione, you've got to be kidding me! You're almost running!'

'Well I'm sorry if I'm eager to see my parents after a year!' I sped up and turned onto Brookman Street.

'Fourteen... Twelve... Ten... Eight... Six... Four!' I stopped and gazed at the house.

It was very nice. It was a small, cottage type house, with vines growing up the front and side. It was a white colour and there were a few brown benches on the porch.

I turned back around just as the other three reached me.

'Okay. I'm going to go now. Wait for me to come get you.'

I walked up to the front door and I knocked three times. The door opened to reveal a woman with curly, slightly bushy brown hair. She had the same face as me except for her eyes.

'Mum...' I whispered. I realized my mistake and said quickly,

'Hello, my name is Ms Granger. I'm here to talk to you about a convention concerning dentists coming up next week. May I step in for a moment?'

'Of course, please wait here. I just need to go collect my husband.' I nodded smiling sweetly and closed the door behind me. I stood in the entry, pulling my wand out of my pocket and stuffed it up my sleeve, admiring the inside of the house.

The entry where I was currently waiting opened up directly into the sitting room. The walls in there were a light blue with beige sofas and arm chairs. They also had a glass table and telly. It was exactly as I remembered my parent's style. Simple and light colours.

I turned to the door as I heard footsteps and felt my throat momentarily close up as I saw my dad for the first time in a year. He looked exactly the same. Same greying brown hair and his eyes, they were my eyes.

'Nice to meet you.' My dad held out his hand for me to shake. I took it and felt myself grin. 'Not to be rude, but you seem much too young to be going around talking to people about dentistry conventions.' I shrugged, playing the part.

'Summer job. My parents are dentists so it was easy to get it. Please, can we take a seat?'

'Of course.' My parents turned to lead me to the kitchen.

This is my chance, their backs are turned. I took my wand from my sleeve and waved it at each of their heads, muttering the counter spells to the charms I had placed on them.

I waited with baited breath as they stopped walking. Slowly they looked to each other and then turned around to me.

'Hermione...?' My mum whispered. 'Where are we?' I couldn't hold my tears in anymore. I let them cascade down my cheeks as I flung myself at my parents. I felt them wrap their arms around me and I hung on.

'Hermione, what's been going on?' My dad asked after a few minutes.

'Yes, it doesn't look like we're at home.'

'I think I need to go get my friends for a moment. You don't mind do you? I'll be one moment but they'll be able to help me explain.'

'Your friends? You mean Harry and Ron?'

'And Ginny,' I added.

'Yes, yes go get them. We've wanted to meet them for such a long time.'

'Hermione!' They all stood as the door closed. I guess they were taking in my red eyes when Ron asked,

'Is everything okay? They did believe you didn't they?'

'Ron, she's smiling,' Ginny pointed out.

'Ginny's right, they're both alright and they both remembered your names, so I suppose so far so good. But they do want to know what's going on, and I said you three would be able t help me explain so come on.'

**Ron**

Hermione ushered us into the house where I saw Hermione's parents sitting around a kitchen table. They stood when they saw us.

'Mum, dad, this is Harry, Ron and Ginny.' Hermione gestured to each of us in turn.

'It's a pleasure to meet you three. Hermione would always talk about you at home.' They stood to shake hands with the three of us.

'Mrs Granger, Mr Granger.' I shook their hands.

'That's a nice firm handshake you've got there. I like that.' I felt myself colour at Mr Granger's comment but chose not to say anything. It's fairly nerve-wracking meeting your significant other's parents for the first time. True, I've seen them, but never actually talked to them.

I turned to watch as Harry and Ginny shook their hands. I heard a part of Harry and Mrs Granger's conversation;

'It's nice to finally meet you Harry. Hermione's only ever said nice things about you. You seem like a nice young man.'

'Thank you Mrs Granger. It's nice to finally meet you as well.' I saw Mrs Granger flash him a quick smile. I turned my attention to Ginny who was shaking Mr Granger's hand.

'Okay, er maybe we should start? It may be a fairly long explanation... I'm not sure,' Hermione started when everyone had met everyone.

'Start at the beginning dear. Maybe tell us where we are? It looks like Australia...' Wow, now I know where Hermione get's her brains from. I looked to Hermione as she cleared her throat.

'Um yes you are in Australia. You've been living here for the past year.' I smiled a little as her parents obtained surprised looks on their faces.

'But Hermione however did we get here? I don't remember anything at all.'

'This is going to be a little harder to explain dad. You see, in the magical world there was a dark wizard-'

'What do you mean by that?' Hermione thought for a moment.

'I guess you could sort of relate the whole thing to Adolf Hitler.' When her parents gasped I asked to nobody in particular,

'What's this Hitler?' Harry to my extreme surprise answered.

'Adolf Hitler was a muggle man who despised a certain religion of muggles. He started a war trying to exterminate them. He also had followers called Nazis.'

'So you mean he was like Voldemort and his Death Eaters wanting to kill all the muggle borns?' Ginny asked aghast. Harry nodded.

'Exactly Harry. You see mum, dad, in the magical world there was a wizard whose name was Tom Riddle. As he finished school, he changed his name to Voldemort to be feared more by everyone. He also had followers whom he dubbed 'Death Eaters',' Hermione explained.

'There were two wars. One took place when we were all just babies, around a year old. Voldemort wanted to make himself immortal, so he created these things called Horcruxes.'

'A Horcrux means to split you soul by an act of evil. Murder,' Harry explained. Hermione nodded and continued.

'Voldemort split his soul seven times, as seven is the strongest magical number. He then heard of a prophecy made about Harry...' She trailed off looking uncertainly to Harry who wasn't concentrating on anyone.

'The prophecy stated that a boy who was born at the same I was would have powers that Voldemort did not. That he would mark me as his equal and neither could live while the other survives. It meant one of us had to kill the other.' I winced as harry said all of that in a monotone voice.

'On Halloween, nineteen eighty-one, Voldemort went to Harry's house and killed his parents. He then turned his wand on Harry to do the same but it didn't work because Harry mum had died to protect him which caused an ancient magical protection. This had caused Voldemort's spell to rebound onto him.'

'But when I was in my fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort came back. In our sixth year, our Headmaster destroyed a Horcrux and started telling Harry about them.' She stopped talking, and I knew why. I reached out to grab her hand but stopped. I don't know if she wants her parents to know about us yet. Instead Harry gave her hand a quick squeeze and a small smile. She took a deep breath and gave Harry a quick nod to show her thanks. Bloody Harry...

'At the end of that term, our Headmaster was killed. When I got home that year, I knew I wasn't going to be returning to Hogwarts. Instead I knew Ron and I would accompany Harry on a mission to destroy the rest of the Horcruxes the following year. So as I was leaving for Ron's house, I... I placed a charm on the both of you to think that you had no daughter, your names were Wendell and Monica Wilkins and your life ambition was to move to Australia, which you ended up doing.'

'But Hermione, I still don't understand why you had to do that.'

'Voldemort and his followers despised muggle borns and anyone who had anything to do with Harry, dad. Since I was a muggle born _and_ one of Harry's best friends, the wanted me even more. I knew they would come after the two of you to get the three of us and I couldn't risk it.' She started to choke up so I decided to take over for her.

'From August to May the three of us were on the run. Harry had a price on his head, Hermione was muggle born and was being looked for because she had to _register_ that she hadn't _stolen_ her magical abilities. I came from the family of the biggest blood traitors in the country and that was the next worst thing to be from muggle borns.'

'The whole time we were on the run. We were looking for Voldemort's Horcruxes. It was the only way to end the war. We finally beat them in May, but we lost tons of people.' Harry finished the tale.

'That's why I had to send you here mum, dad. You wouldn't have been safe. They hate muggles as much as muggle borns and blood traitors.'

I watched as Hermione's parents took it all in.

'I can't believe you three went through all of that...' Hermione's mum shook her head in wonder.

**Harry**

I feel so sorry for the Grangers. They have to take it all in so fast.

'So what are you three doing now? Do you go back to school?' Mr Granger asked.

'Yes, we are. We'll be in the same year as Ginny though because Harry, Ron and I have to take our seventh year over as we didn't actually _go_.' Mrs Granger nodded in understanding.

'Well I guess we should look into tickets to get back to England. We'll also need to sell this house and pack everything...'

'Er mum,' Hermione began, her cheeks coloured. Oh no, what did she do? Apparently her parents realise something's up as well as her dad asked,

'Hermione... What did you do?'

'I er, I've already booked tickets for our ride back home tomorrow and I've found an agent to help sell your house. Apparently you can sell it back in England...'

'Oh Hermione,' her mum smiled. 'You're always on top of everything.'

'When did you do all that?' I asked.

'Right after I found them in the directory.' Ah, now I remember her running out of the room.

'But what about all our furniture? However will we pack it all before tomorrow?'

'Mum, you've forgotten I can use magic. It'll take maybe an hour tops.'

'I see this has all been thought through dear. Are you four staying in a hotel?' Hermione nodded.

'Well Hermione, go ahead and start packing for us.' Hermione beamed and came over to Ron, Ginny and I.

'Okay, Ron, you'll take the guest room, Ginny you'll take the kitchen, Harry you can work in the sitting room and I'll take the bathroom and master bedroom.' I rolled my eyes at Ron.

'She's in control once again. Be afraid.' Ron laughed.

_**Dedicated to friend who moved - Gaby**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Harry**

'Harry wake up please. We've got to go pick my parents up in an hour. And our flight leaves in two.'

I rolled over, onto my back as Hermione moved to Ron. I don't want to see how she wakes him so I grabbed my glasses and clothes and sprinted into the shower.

My muscles and joints were so sore. I felt almost as tired and sore as after the Final Battle, which is saying something as I was going on mostly adrenaline then.

We were at the Grangers yesterday until one in the morning. It hadn't taken us long to pack everything, maybe two hours, but then we had stayed for dinner and ended up talking and learning more about Hermione's parents and vice versa.

What do I honestly think about her parents? They're really nice, polite, funny and very smart. Ron, Ginny and I now know where Hermione gets her brains. They are very healthy though, which makes sense since they're both dentists. We ended up having salad and pizza for dinner, something Ginny and Ron enjoyed immensely. Apparently they had had no idea what pizza was. Now Ginny's addicted to that and Coke. Great.

Anyways, they seem like genuine parents. They have to have been to have raised Hermione to be the way she is.

I finished my shower and threw my clothes on before leaving the bathroom and going to the table to get a muffin for breakfast.

Ron walked by me, covering a huge yawn with his hand.

'Morning mate.'

'Morning Harry.' I watched him closed the bathroom door.

I finished my muffin and went to my bag, packing any last minute items. Our plane left at twelve again.

'Harry?' I turned to see Hermione in the doorway, her hair dripping water.

'Hm,' I turned back to trying to force the souvenirs into my bag.

'Reducio,' I watched as their size was reduced and they fit into my bag perfectly.

'Thanks,' I said sheepishly. 'I forgot about that.

'No problem.' I turned back to my bag, zipping it closed.

'Harry, you'll be sitting next to Ron on the airplane, is that okay?' I turned to her, crinkling my nose.

'Why can't I sit with Ginny?' Wow, did that ever sound like I was a seven year old.

'Well, my parents don't know about either of the pairs, and well, I don't want them to find out just yet. I like the privacy.'

'So who'll you sit with?'

'Ginny. My parents'll sit together.' She peered at me nervously. 'Is that okay with you?' Really? No.

'Yeah I guess.

'I'm sorry Harry but, well, I thought about sitting with one of my parents but the idea of Ron with one of them is...' I grinned.

'Terrifying?' She smiled.

'Exactly. I don't know what he might say under the pressure, and the flights are quite long...'

'It's fine Hermione. I'll keep Ron in line. It's just going to be weird being back home where we have to be careful what we say and do around certain people.' She nodded.

'That's exactly how I feel. Thank you for understanding Harry.' She kneeled down beside me and gave me a hug.

'So we're staying at you parent's house for a few days when we get back?' I asked.

'Yes. We have a fairly large house so everyone will be comfortable.' I eyed her. She wasn't telling me something.

'How big?' She coughed quietly and said,

'It um, it has five bedrooms and three bathrooms.' Bloody hell!

'But there are only three of you! Why such a big house?'

'Well one bathroom was an office and the other was a fairly large pantry. As for the bathrooms, on is in the master bedroom and there's one on each floor.' I was about to reply when Ginny walked into the room.

'Morning Harry,' she said brightly.

'Morning Ginny.'

**Hermione**

Phew, that was harder than I thought. Why was I so nervous about telling Harry how big my house was? Thank Merlin for Ginny's appearance.

'Ginny, you'll be sitting by me on the ride back,' I said when I reached the doorway.

'What? Why!'

'I don't really want my parents to find out we're together yet.'

'Yes, but st-'

'Please just do this for me Ginny?' I begged. I had no wish to argue with anyone this morning. I was fairly tired.

'Okay,' she sighed.

'Thank you Ginny. It means a lot to me.' She just nodded at me and turned and gave Harry a kiss. Now I just have to tell Ron... That'll be fun...

I heard the bathroom door open in the by's room and went entered it to see Ron come out, his hair still wet like everyone else's.

'Ron, can I speak with you a moment? I called.

'Good luck Hermione,' Ginny called out. I glared as Ron looked curiously from Ginny to me.

'Yes...?' He asked cautiously.

'Ron, you don't want my parents to find out about us yet, do you?'

'Not really.'

'Would you mind then if you sat beside Harry for our flight? My parents are very smart and they'd be able to figure out why we're sitting together in a minute.' He looked surprised.

'Um, yeah I suppose.' I breathed a massive sigh of relief and gave him a strong hug.

'Thank you so much Ron.' He pulled me away from him and said,

'Since we won't be able to do this anytime soon...' he trailed off and pressed his lips to mine.

Caught off guard, I simply stood there for a moment before I responded eagerly.

'Aw, bloody hell! I come in here to pack the rest of my stuff and end up very nearly losing my lunch!' We broke apart a few minutes later to see Ginny in the doorway. I could tell she was joking though because she was wearing a smile.

'Does everyone have everything?' The three nodded.

'Perfect, now I told my parents we would apparate directly into their kitchen, so, I guess I'll meet you there.' I turned, concentrating on the yellow kitchen with the white cupboards. I was the first one to arrive followed by Harry, Ginny and Ron, who tripped over his bag when he landed.

'Oomph.' I tried not to laugh but had to smile as he got up, massaging his bottom.

'Hermione, is that you?'

'Yes mum, we're here.'

'We'll be down in a moment.'

**Ron**

I stayed standing as the other three sat down at the kitchen table. My arse still hurts. They've a hard floor here...

As they heard two sets of footsteps on the stairs, the other three stood, ready to go.

Mr and Mrs Granger only had two bags combined. The rest of their furniture had been packed into boxes which had then been shrunk and stuck into one box which was also reduced and placed in one of their bags. A charm had been placed on it so it wouldn't be as heavy. I can't remember the spell though... Hermione preformed it, of course.

'Okay, mum, dad we're going to apparate which takes less time than taking a taxi. Dad, you'll go with me and mum you'll go with Ron. Everyone knows where to go, so there's nothing to worry about.

'Ah, one word of caution,' Harry spoke up. 'Apparation takes a little getting used to. It only lasts a few seconds but it's a strange feeling.'

'Yes, thank you Harry. He's right,' she turned to her parents. 'It feels as if you're being squeezed through a tube. Don't panic and don't let go of whoever it is apparating you.' Hermione's parents looked slightly frightened, but nodded in understanding.

'Harry, Ginny you two can go first.' They nodded and turned, disappearing with a 'pop'. 'Ron, you and mum next.'

'Okay,' I cleared my throat. This was nerve wracking. I can't believe Hermione actually trusted me with transporting her mother. 'Just hold on tight to my upper arm Mrs Granger. We'll be there in a few seconds.' She obliged and grasped my arm with a vice like grip.

I closed my eyes, concentrating on the little corridor outside the bathrooms and spun around. When the strange feeling of being in a compressed tube left, I opened my eyes to see Mrs Granger lean against a wall between Harry and Ginny just as Hermione appeared with her father.

'I don't think I enjoy you method of travel,' Mrs Granger muttered.

'You get used to it,' Ginny said. Mr Granger just grunted.

'Let's go check in then,' Hermione lead us into line.

After almost a bloody half hour, we were through the line, making our way to the waiting area. The six of us sat down around a table, waiting for our flight to be called.

'Does our flight stop anywhere Hermione?' I asked.

'We make a stop in Canada half way through.'

**Ginny**

I don't _want _to go back. It was so nice without mum and dad around, being able to spend all my time with Harry... I guess we won't really be back yet as we're staying at Hermione's for a few days, but still!

Ah well.

'Did you have a good time Ginny?' I started out of my stupor and looked to Hermione. We had boarded the plane almost an hour ago.

'Of course! It was amazing in Perth, and it's not so hard to use muggle appliances actually.' Hermione laughed.

'Of course it isn't. Muggles use them every day. Did you and a certain someone have a good time?' I blushed but smiled.

'Of course we did. Even when we were sick. I can't believe we have to go back to England already...'

'That's true, but look at it this way; when we do get back to the Burrow, there'll only be three days before we leave for Hogwarts, so it's not that bad.' I thought about what she had said. It _was_ true. We would be back at Hogwarts in three days time after we got back home... but then someone'll surly see us together and report it to the Prophet and then mum'll find out and all my brothers and we'll never have a quiet moment alone at the Burrow again...

'But at Hogwarts someone will see us and tell the Prophet which my family will read...'

'Oh Ginny, I know. Ron and I have the same problem though. I mean, we're his best friends.' I sighed.

'I know, it's just extremely annoying having no privacy.' Hermione smiled sympathetically.

'Everything'll turn out.'

We were finally home. Finally back in England... It's nice to be back, but at the same time, depressing.

'Harry, Ron, Ginny, would it be okay if I apparated back with my parents and helped them unpack. You three could take the underground maybe?' I looked to Harry and Ron. They both seemed okay with it so I nodded. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and gave us each a hug and apparating with her parents.

'Follow me,' Harry said and he led us to the 'underground.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ginny**

After taking the underground to the station closest to Hermione's house, we got off the tube and started the ten minute walk to the Granger household.

'I'm so thankful Hermione took our luggage with her,' Ron moaned as we turned onto Hermione's street.

'Ron, you fat lard, you can't be tired already!'

'I think this is the house,' Harry interrupted. He probably sensed a fight coming on. I stuck my tongue ou at my brother before I turned to admire the house.

It was a fairly large house. It was brown and brick on the outside. The porch was on the side with white wooden chairs and a table. I followed Harry and Ron up the cobblestone path. Just as Harry was bringing his knuckles down on the door, it opened to reveal a breathless Hermione.

'Oh I'm so glad you're here! We've just finished unpacking! Come in.' I stepped inside first and let my eyes widen at the beautiful interior. The entrance came straight into the sitting room on the right which was a dark blue in colour with the same beige sofas and armchairs from the Granger's house in Perth. The telly was set along one wall and there was a big window on another. Straight ahead was a staircase.

'I'll give you all a quick tour now; my parents are unpacking all their belongings in their room and they prefer to do it without magic. So obviously this is the sitting room on the right. It's styled pretty much the same as it was in Perth. To the left is the kitchen...'

The kitchen was quite different from Perth. One, it was a lot bigger. The walls were a light orange and there was a small wooden table in the middle with four chairs around it. The cupboards were all dark wood.

'Right off of the kitchen are the smallest guest room and laundry room.' She opened the guest room which was _very_ small. The walls were light pink and there was a small white bed in the corner along with a white bureau. 'This used to be my room until I turned seven. I was er, quite girly then,' Hermione explained. I _hate _pink!

'Urgh, I've never been this girly and I don't plan on starting now. Pink clashes horribly with my hair...' I trailed off, realizing everyone was staring at me with amused smiles. 'Sorry,' I felt my face flush pink. Hermione smiled at me and shook her head before leaving the room, beckoning for us to follow.

'There's only the laundry room, and you most likely won't need to go in there at all so...' She led us back through the kitchen to a door in the corridor which connected the kitchen and sitting room. 'This here's the bathroom...' We got a quick glimpse of pale yellow walls before we were being led up the stairs to the second floor. There were five doors leading off the brown coloured walls. Hermione pointed to the first on our left which we could hear movement coming from.

'That's my parent's room. They have an adjoining bathroom.' The next door, which was on the right, was open slightly. 'This is another guest room, but it's not really used because of all the boxes...' We nodded looking around. A whole wall had boxes covering it, and the only way to tell it was the same colour as the other three walls was the tiny hint of pale blue in the upper right corner. 'No one will be using this room.' I laughed.

'Hermione, I don't think even Ron's that dense.'

'Hey!' Hermione grinned and pulled me out of the door.

'Anyways, this next room's the last guest room. Harry, Ron, you two will be sharing this room.' She opened the door and let Harry and Ron wander in.

The room was a fair size. The walls were dark green and all the furniture was white. There were two beds already and a window between them. I noticed their luggage was already on a bed each.

'Okay, I'll just show you where the upstairs bathroom and my room are, and then you can unpack.' She led us to yet _another_ room which turned out to be a bathroom identical to the downstairs one. 'Last room is my room,' Hermione announced.

'Thank Merlin. Hermione your house is massive!' Hermione flushed at my comment and led us to the last door. Her house _is _massive though! There are five bedrooms and three bathrooms! Anyways...

'This is my room which Ginny will be sharing with me.' My jaw dropped. Her room was _amazing!_

The walls were painted a dark red, and all the furniture had a gold look to it. The two beds set up had blue covers and the window had gold curtains pulled over it. That's not what was amazing though. The most amazing thing about the room was the books. One wall was lined with book shelves which in turn were filled with books.

'Bloody hell Hermione, have you read all these books?' Ron asked. She nodded and I went over to the shelf, running my finger down the spines of the books.

'Hermione,' I started. 'You have your own _library_ in here!' She flushed a red which could rival my hair.

'I see someone supports Gryffindor whole heartedly,' Harry said. I turned to see him beside me looking at all the books.

'Yes, my parents let me fix my room after our first year. So now that everyone knows where everything is, I suggest we all unpack before dinner.'

'Bloody hell Hermione, why've you never told anyone how big your house is before?' I turned to see her shrug.

**Hermione**

'Honestly? I didn't know how you all would take it.'

'How did you think we would react?' I shrugged.

'I... I don't know.' I folded a shirt and placed it in my bureau.

'Hermione, you've nothing to be ashamed of. Your house is beautiful.' I grinned.

'Thanks Ginny, that means a lot.'

'That's what friends are for.' We were silent for a few more minutes before Ginny announced that she was done unpacking and was going to go check in on Harry and Ron.

'Not going to snog Harry, right?' I asked teasingly.

'Oh shut up,' she smiled, flinging a pillow at me.

'Well, I'm done unpacking now too, so I'll come with to _supervise_.'

'Oh please Hermione, you'll only end up snogging Ron.'

'I will _not_!'

'Whatever you say Hermione.' She grinned at me and turned, running out the door. I smiled and chased her out the door.

'Thank you Mrs Granger, that was very good.' I beamed at mum as Harry and Ron stood to take their plates to the counter, Ginny following.

'Thank you dears, that's very nice of you to say.' As they sat down, I stood and took my plate to the counter where I quickly used my wand to wash and put away the dishes. When I got back to the table, I was surprised to hear the five talking.

'So you four still have another year left of school?' They all nodded as I sat down beside Harry. 'What about after you finish school? What are your career options?' Dad turned to me.

'There are a lot of different paths you could take. You could become a healer, which is like a doctor. There are aurors which are like police, or Professional Quidditch players. Um, you could work at the Wizarding Bank; Gringotts. There's a fair few options.'

'What were you thinking of Hermione?' Oh god, please don't tell me he asked that. Not with Harry and Ron here.

'Er, well there are House Elves in the Wizarding world, they're servants to the family they belong to and I wanted to help improve their lives...' I glanced at Harry and saw he was smiling. Ron on the other hand was staring at me as if I were mad.

'That's nice Hermione.' I half heartedly grinned at mum as dad asked the other three what they would like to do.'

'Er, I was thinking an auror...' Harry trailed off uncertainly.

'I'm going to help my brother in his joke shop, but I also wanted to be an auror.' Poor Ron, I don't blame him for not mentioning Fred.

'Honestly,' Ginny began. 'I have no idea.' We kept talking until we realised it was almost twelve thirty. We said our good nights to my parents and made our way up the stairs to our rooms.

Making sure my parents weren't up, I gave Ron a quick kiss and hug before going back to my room where Ginny already was.

**Ron**

Hermione's parents are nice enough. They're a very cheery lot they are. We spent the whole night talking about ourselves. My favourite question that was asked was whether we all were seeing someone.

We all said yes and when my parents started drilling Hermione about what her respective other was like, she ended up sending a small smile my way before telling them about _Nikola. _He had grey eyes and blonde hair apparently and was shorter than her, being nineteen.

Harry, Ginny and I had kept ourselves busy by trying not to laugh.

All in all the Grangers are really nice.

Mrs Granger is as different from mum as possible She doesn't like leaving a mess too long but believes that practical jokes are very funny.

Mr Granger is so _alike_ to dad, it's creepy. He loves anything to do with magic. He also likes a sport called football. Talks about it nonstop Mr Granger does.

Ah damn, why can't I fall asleep. Bloody time change has screwed me up for life, I swear. Either I sleep all day, or I can't sleep at all.

Oh well, the trip was worth it. I can't believe I almost missed out on going on the trip. Airplanes actually aren't all that bad. Okay, the taking off and landing are terrifying, but the rest of the flight is perfectly enjoyable.

I heard a rustling and turned in my bed to see Harry turning rapidly in his bed. Is he having a nightmare?

'Go 'way...' I guess he is. I quietly got out of bed and tip toed to his side.

'Harry, wake up.' I shook him but it didn't work.

'Leave her alone...' I had better wake him soon otherwise he may start screaming and I can't get Ginny to wake him.

Wait, I can use magic. I quickly used _Muffliato_ and continued trying to wake Harry.

'Leave her alone... Riddle,' Oh shite, it's about Riddle too.

'Harry, bloody hell, wake up!' I whispered urgently.

'Ginny!'

'Harry wake up, now!' He sat up, gasping for air, his sheets sticking to his sweat covered body.

'Ron, what...' He looked at me completely bemused.

'You were dreaming mate.' About my sister no less.

**Harry**

Damn, I guess I forgot to put the silencing charm round my bed before I fell asleep.

'Did I say anything?'

'Er yeah, you were mumbling.' Great, all he needed to hear was me yell out Ginny's name.

'What did I say? Did I wake anyone else?'

'No, I used _Muffliato _before you got to loud.'

'What did I say Ron?' I ground out. I hate when people disregard my questions.

''Leave her alone' and 'Riddle'.'

'I didn't say anything else?' He shook his head but even in the dark I could see his face colour. Please tell me I didn't say Ginny's name...

'Has this been you first nightmare since the Battle?' Great, now it was my turn to flush. I cleared my throat.

'Er, no?'

'What!'

'Quiet Ron!' He glared but asked in a whisper,

'How many other nightmares have you had?'

'Er, every day since the battle?' Ron looked like he was ready to throttle something.

'Why didn't I ever hear you? We've been in the same room ever since then...' He trailed off, looking at me with a sort of realization. 'You've been using silencing charms, haven't you?' I averted my eyes and nodded. 'What the hell Harry! Why?'

'I didn't want any of you to hear me and start worrying. Especially Hermione or Ginny,' I said darkly. When Ron didn't answer I looked up to see him glaring at me. 'Please don't tell them. You know how Hermione gets, especially when I have nightmares. Imagine what she'd be like if she found out I'd been having them for three months without anyone knowing. Please Ron?' I asked weakly. He sighed.

'Fine, but if or when Hermione or Ginny finds out, you're on your own.' I sighed, relieved.

'Thanks mate.'

'No problem.' He paused. 'You should go get some water, you sound horrible.' Water sounds like a good idea.

'Thanks again mate.' Ron nodded and went back to his bed while I went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hermione**

'Bye mum, I'll miss you. I'll owl you when we arrive at school.' I wiped at my eyes as I moved to dad.

'G'bye dad. I'll owl when I know if I'm staying for Christmas and Easter.' Dad nodded and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

'Take care of yourself Hermione.'

'I will dad.' I stepped back to let Ron, Harry and Ginny shake my parent's hands. Mum ended up hugging Ginny. Once all the goodbyes were done, my parents stepped back to give us room to apparate. Harry, Ginny and Ron turned and after one last quick wave, I turned as well.

We arrived right outside the wards surrounding the Burrow and I sent a patronus to let them know we were back.

As soon as my patronus disappeared into the house, Mrs Weasley was hurrying across the grounds waving her wand in complicated formations. She must've dropped whatever she was doing to come out and let us in.

She gathered the four of us in such a strong hug I'm surprised I didn't break a rib or two.

'Oh my, I've missed you four so much! Come in, come in.' She ushered us back to the Burrow, replacing the wards as we went.

When we were inside she ushered us to a table and started preparing food.

'You four look so skinny. What have you been eating? Have you been eating plenty...?'

After we had all been fed, Mrs Weasley called Mr Weasley and they sat down, Mrs Weasley saying,

'Now, tell us about your trip.' I groaned inwardly. I've always hated recounting stories. Now I know how Harry feels.

'Well we actually did a lot of sleeping when we first arrived in Perth. The time change made us fairly tired,' I started. 'We went swimming; saw a sunset, um...'

'Harry and Hermione taught Ron and I about the muggle appliances in the hotel room. We watched a movie as well. What was it called?'

'Titanic,' Harry answered.

'Yes, that's it. We also got everyone some souvenirs.

'Oh, tell us about the airplane!' Mr Weasley exclaimed excitedly. I laughed inwardly. He reminds me of such a child sometimes.

'It was very boring,' Ron started. 'Nothing to do at all.'

'Oh Ronald, you're exaggerating. There were movies, we all talked a lot, and you could have read a book...' He snorted and I just rolled my eyes. Sometimes you just have to let it go.

'How was the Granger's house?'

'Fantastic, they were so nice,' Ginny started saying.

'Well, I'm glad you four had a good time. Now, off with you four, you've got to unpack.'

**Ron**

We all trudged up the stairs to our rooms. Hermione and Ginny are lucky. They don't have to carry their bags all the way to the top floor.

'So mate, what did you really think of Hermione's parents?' Harry asked me once my bedroom door was closed.

'They were nice. At least they weren't foul gits.' Harry laughed. 'It's not funny; wait until you meet your girlfriend's parents.' Harry started laughing even harder. 'What?' I demanded.

'Ron, I've known her parents since I was twelve.'

'Wha- Oh,' I felt my face burn. We finished unpacking in silence. I don't know why we're even bothering to unpack; I mean we'll be leaving in three days anyhow.

When we finished, we sat on our own beds and did our own thing. I was reading a book on the Chudley Cannons; I don't know what Harry was reading, but it was making him smile.

After almost an hour, which I'm proud to say I was reading the whole time, Ginny and Hermione burst into the room. I saw Harry smile and put his book beside him on the bed.

'You're reading?' Hermione came and sat beside me, her eyes wide with surprise.

'Yes.'

'What is it? Oh,' she saw the title and smiled. 'I should have known you'd only read a Quidditch book on your own free will.'

'Hey!' She laughed and kissed me on the cheek.

'You know it's true Ron.' I opened my mouth to reply, but it wasn't worth it. We'd only end up fighting. Plus she was right.

I looked over to Harry and Ginny and saw Harry was running his fingers through her hair. Why does he always do that? I mean, where's the thrill? I've tried with Hermione, but I very nearly got my hand tangled in her hair. Ah well, I guess it's different for everyone.

'Mm, I need a drink of water. I'll be right back.' I got up and went downstairs.

'Oh Ron, I was waiting for one of you to come down. Dinner's ready, can you go get your father and friends please.' I nodded and gulped down my water quickly before going to look for dad first. He's always the hardest to find.

**Harry**

'What're you reading?' Ginny came and sat beside me while Hermione made her way to Ron.

'Hm, oh I'm not reading, it's a photo album.' She took it and flipped to the first page which was of Ron, Hermione and I in our first year.

'Aw,' she cooed. 'You all look so small and young and cute. Except Ron.' I grinned as she leaned against me and I started running my fingers through her hair as she looked through the album.

'Are these you parents?' She asked suddenly. I looked to the page she pointing at and nodded. My parents were laughing and dancing in the rain. 'Your mum was so beautiful...' She looked at me and back at the picture. 'You look exactly like your dad.'

'Yeah, I know.' I swallowed thickly. We were silent again as she looked through the album. The only disturbance was Ron leaving the room. She finished looking through the album and said,

'You don't have any photos of us together.' I could hear the disappointment in her voice. I quit running my fingers through her hair and wrapped my arms around her waist.

'I know.'

'Why?' She turned around to face me.

'I couldn't find any. Believe me, if I had, they'd be in there.'

'Well, we'll just have to get you some then, yeah?' I smiled and nodded against her shoulder.

'Absolutely.' Just then Ron barged in, scaring the shite out of the three of us, particularly Ginny and I.

'Mum says dinner's ready.'

'Bloody hell,' I breathed.

**Ginny**

I thought for sure we were going to be caught there, but it only turned out to be Ron. I heard Harry cuss and couldn't agree more. I don't think my hearts ever raced that fast before.

I can't wait until we get back to school.

I entered the kitchen and was surprised to see Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy and George around the table.

'Charlie!' I ran towards him and gave him a strong hug. I heard Ron ask,

'Charlie, why're you here?'

'What? Don't want me here? Fine I'll leave.'

'No, I was just wondering, I mean you went back to Romania after the Battle.'

'Well,' I released Charlie and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. 'Mum here thought it'd be nice to have me here to welcome you four back from Australia.' I sat down between Charlie and Hermione, across from Bill who asked,

'What? No big bear hug greeting for me?' I grinned.

'Nope, I see you much more than Charlie. Sorry.' Fleur laughed her high, tinkering laugh which I've come accustomed to.

'Ah Bill, do not be jealous that Charlie 'as gained more attention from your sibleengs than you.'

'Of course I'm not jealous.' I laughed but stopped when the food appeared on the table. I'm actually very hungry.

When we finished our meal, Hermione announced that we had souvenirs for everyone. I had completely forgotten about those.

'Ginny, will you come help me carry them down please?' I nodded and followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

When we got back down we handed each gift out.

Mum got a necklace, dad got a model airplane, Bill got a new earring with a shark tooth, Fleur got earrings, Charlie got a children's muggle book about dragons, Percy got a muggle pen and paper and George got a muggle prank item called a whoopee cushion I think.

Everyone started exclaiming over their gifts at once.

'Dears you shouldn't have,' I heard mum exclaim, causing me to roll my eyes. Honestly, we're not taking them back.

After a while, I started to yawn, which my mum was quick to see. She sent the four of us up to bed, stating that we needed a good night sleep as we were going to get our school books the next day. At my door, Harry stopped me as Hermione went into her my room and Ron went up to his.

'Good night Ginny,' and he kissed me, right where anyone could find us, granted everyone but my parents had left. He stepped back and gave me another quick kiss before jogging up the stairs to Ron's room.

September cannot come fast enough.

**Author's Note - It's over as well! This was one of my favourties to write. I liked the romance. I know it ends weirdly, but I wanted to leave the option of a sequel open. I may do that, but without the point of views, it was so difficult to write from Ron's. I hope you all enjoued this story? I wanted to get all of them posted before I left for my holiday tomorrow. Keep an eye out for new stories from me!**

**-PadfootProngs7**


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